Sweet Lullaby
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: Tony is forcfed a tablet by a suspect, and the NCIS team are amazed by the results. Lots of PapaBear Gibbs in this story :D Did I mention it contains Baby!Tony? NOW COMPLETE! Wow :O
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, I couldn't really think of a better way to get him 'altered', but hey-ho ;) Oh yeah, and anything that sounds the least bit scientific will make no sense. I just wrote some rubbish I heard in science lol.**

"Tony!"

The young agent was only dimly aware of being shouted as he careered into the ground at a tremendous force. They'd been hunting this one man for three weeks, and they'd finally found him. Tony's crowning moment was himself tackling the suspect down. However, the tables turned as the suspect (Who's name was Edgar Warren) twisted him round and grinned manically.

This man really shouldn't be so much trouble. He was a scientist, and according to Abby, a 'bad-ass' one. She'd been astounded as she'd looked him up and found the extent of his working. He made drugs that had amazing results, whether they were used for good or bad, they didn't know, but were sure after a few minutes in interrogation with Gibbs, he'd soon start talking.

"Well well pretty boy, seems like they're gonna take me away. But not before I…alter their precious 'senior field agent'." Warren snarled, one more grin and he clamped his hand down on Tony's jaw and shoved a tablet in his mouth. Making sure he swallowed it, Warren beamed, a murderous glint in his eye as he stood up off Tony and waited for Gibbs to reach him, and cuff him.

"Tony?" He heard Kate timidly say his name, holding out a hand to help him to his feet, "You ok?" He nodded and scrambled to his feet, before immediately feeling woozy and nearly falling down again,

"Woah, Tony, are you sure you're alright?" Tony deduced that now was not the time to pretend to be fine. Concussion was one thing; unidentified tablet being ingested was a completely different thing,

"Warren shoved a tablet in my mouth, forced me to swallow, I don't know what it was, said it would 'alter' me…" He tailed off, feeling weak as Kate looked at him, her mouth open. Quick as a flash she was on her feet and ran over to Gibbs, who was shoving Warren into their van,

"Boss, Warren forced Tony to take a tablet just before we cuffed him, didn't tell him what it was, but said it would 'alter' him apparently." Gibbs gave an evil stare to the man in the truck, which made Kate wince – she'd hate to be subjugated to that glare.

"What did you give my agent?" He asked, a cold and hard tone to his voice.

"Nothin' you can do now, too late to get his stomach pumped. My, my - just how will you figure out what he's taken? I wonder if you'll find out before it's too late? Before he's completely different?" He started to laugh hysterically, and Gibbs ran a frenzied hand across his brow in frustration, how in the hell would they figure this out?

He turned to see DiNozzo on the floor, where Kate left him, shaking slightly, probably due to the cold. He rushed over, keen to get back as soon as possible so Ducky and Abby would be able to find what he'd taken. God knows what he'd put in that tablet, if Abby was right about him it could honestly be anything.

"DiNozzo, on your feet, we need to get back, Ducky'll sort you right out." Gibbs said, making it sound like an upbeat order, careful to keep the fear out of his voice. Tony nodded but whispered weakly,

"I'm not feeling too well Boss, my arms and legs feel real weak, I don't think I can walk." Gibbs nodded as well, and simply carefully bundled Tony into his arms and helped him to an upright stance, before taking him over to the van.

Kate looked at him with apprehension and uncertainty but offered him the middle space, between Gibbs and herself.

"You'll be fine Tony, this is probably like a cold compared to other things you've had. Remember the plague?"

"'Course I do Katie, I can remember there was a… there was a bed there, I was on it for a while, there were some blue lights as well… you were there too. Sung a real nice song…" He tailed off while Gibbs looked round at Kate,

"You _sung_ to him?" She shrugged but felt a blush rising in her cheeks,

"He couldn't sleep, and he was delirious anyway, and it shut him up, he didn't cough or make a single movie reference." Gibbs grinned,

"Guess we'll have to sing to you more often DiNozzo." After not getting a reply, he twisted to see Tony slumping down in his seat with his eyes closed. He choked and swerved slightly, before Kate said,

"Relax Gibbs, he's asleep." She smiled fondly at Tony, while Gibbs recognized the slow, steady pace of his agent's breathing.

--

"Hey Duck we need you to find out what Tony's taken." Gibbs announced, going straight to the point as soon as the doors to autopsy had slid open. He'd woken Tony up to come down here, but he'd felt horrible doing it, like he'd just kicked a puppy.

"What do you mean, 'taken'?" Abby asked, who had been preparing to leave just before the agents appeared,

"Warren grabbed hold of him before we cuffed him and made him swallow a tablet. We need to know what it was." Kate explained, as she helped Tony onto a table. Abby looked devastated before rushing around,

"Right, I'll need er… we need to…" Gibbs grabbed hold of her arms,

"Abs, relax. Just do it slowly and accurately, you can't rush science." She gave him a small smile and she and Ducky were at once prodding and poking every bit of the unfortunate agent.

Kate sidled up to Gibbs and said softly,

"What d'you think it'll do to him Gibbs?" He heard the worry in her voice and didn't want to upset her,

"Who knows," He replied, "It could change his hair colour, it could turn him into a giant turnip, or it could give him a genetically altered disease. We'll have to trust Abby and Ducky on this one." Kate nodded and tried to stop the tears sliding down her face as she saw Tony looking over to her and Gibbs for support, looking thoroughly worried and confused.

"Got it!" Abby yelled triumphantly, as they'd had to do a disgusting stomach pump to find it, "Looks like your boy Warren was lying, we can find it, but only a few traces, definitely not enough to stop the effects." Her voice wavered slightly, but she ran across to her lab, putting her music on loud, which presumably helped her concentrate,

"Hey Boss?" Gibbs looked over to a dazed looking Tony sat on an autopsy table, "I'm gonna go with her, I'm beat, I'll just lie on her sleeping bag a while, then come back." Gibbs looked over to Ducky, who shrugged but nodded, so Gibbs replied,

"Off you go then DiNozzo, just don't get in her way." Tony grinned and shuffled off the table, before stumbling out of autospy, with an exhausted look about his face.

"Hey Abbs," He begun, as soon as he'd turned her music off, "Gibbs said I could use your sleeping bag, I'm exhausted." Abby smiled at him and unrolled it,

"No problem Tony, the machine is almost done, so we can go tell them together what you took." This fell on deaf ears as he'd already fallen asleep and was curling up on her sleeping bag.

She smiled and jumped as she heard a loud DING from her machine. Rushing over, she whispered,

"C'mon baby, show me tic - tacs," in an attempt to lighten the mood. However, her eyes widened as she saw the name of the drug, "No way." She breathed out, and glanced over at Tony, who was still sleeping peacefully. She was about to run out before suddenly pausing, obviously having jsut remembered something. She ran back to her machine and took the drug out, before putting it in a smaller machine, which was barely used. After a few minutes more, during which she kept glancing down at Tony anxiously, the machine stopped.

She glanced down at the chart and her mouth dropped open. She all but ran to autopsy.

--

Gibbs, Kate, McGee and Ducky were still there, and all turned to face her as she came in. Gulping, she started,

"Erm, right...er, you know how Warren was a biological genius? And how he invented some of the world's most amazing drugs, and I mean, amazing. Did you know, he came up with one that, when added with a different reactant, it created furniture? Like, actual furniture, from scratch? That's just..."

"Abby," Gibbs interrupted, "Tony?" Her face grew apprehensive, presumably scared of telling him,

"Right. So at first, I thought my machine broke, but then I remembered some of the papers I read about him, and remembered this one. And unfortunately, it works. It's called 'berceuse douce', which in French means..."

"Sweet lullaby," Kate whispered, frustrated by the fact that the name could hint at alot of possible symptoms, "So what does it do?" Abby took a deep breath,

"It kind of, alters your brain patterns, enzymes, basically, shifts your whole body structure around..."

"So he's going to die a horrible, painful death..." Kate murmured, which everyone heard, though she hadn't meant for them to,

"Oh no, it's kind of the opposite," Abby continued, getting back some of that enthusiasm, "What it does is, shift your body structure around, into the form of you when you were small." They all stared at her blankly, until Ducky said,

"So, what you're saying Abigail, is that Anthony's body will change..."

"Into that of his younger self. Yep," She said, "When you think about it it's dead cute, and incredibly clever."

"Abby," Gibbs croaked, finding it all difficult to believe, "How young is his younger self?" Abby bit her lip, and said,

"I quickly did a test on the drugs after that, and assuming that my maths and the fact that the reactants and ionic compounds in the covalent bonds are..."

"English Abby! Did you find out or not?" Gibbs barked. She jumped and answered,

"About one and a half, two."

Everyone looked round at everyone else, stunned into silence. Abby was right, the science itself was incredible, but there were a few problems,

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Kate asked, "How do we get him back to himself?" Abby shrugged and said,

"I bet there's an antidote. From the shape of the DNA, it wasn't resistant to any, so even if he didn't make one, I bet someone could. As to what we're supposed to do with him... I assume we look after him until we found the antidote. Not much else really."

Gibbs rubbed at his forehead, unsure of what to do. Abby wasn't lying, he could tell, so this must be real. But even so, it was just so... far fetched. And how would they look after a two year old DiNozzo? He was bad enough 28, and none of them had much experience with babies. Except him, but that was years ago...

Abby had skipped out by this point, quickly followed by Kate.

"Women!" Ducky huffed, "Try to tell them something, they completely disregard it and do something different."

"What's wrong Duck?" Gibbs asked,

"I tell them that in a store cupboard we have shelves filled with clothes and other necessities for babies, from previous cases and other things, and they rush off, twittering like nightingales, about the colour of the clothes and even the colour of the diaper."

Gibbs shook his head and shifted from one foot to the other, not sure what to say. The silence was broken when McGee said,

"Ducky, do you know anything about this drug?" Ducky inclined his head and replied,

"I know a fair bit Timothy, do you have some questions?" McGee nodded shyly and asked,

"How long do you think it'll be before he...changes?" Ducky thought for a moment before saying,

"Possibly not long at all, if he hasn't changed already, I'd say it won't be long."

"Will he be able to talk? And remember us all, you know, keep his memories?" Gibbs was impressed, he'd failed to ask these kind of questions,

"I think he will I'm afraid."

"What do you mean afraid Ducky?" Gibbs said,

"Well, wouldn't you be embarrassed? At least two year olds don't care having diapers changed, they probably love it, but a 28 year old... and if it's by his boss, well..."

They were all silent for a moment before they heard cooings and 'ahhs' coming down the corridor.

"Oh good lord." Gibbs mumbled, turning to meet the sight. His jaw fell open as the doors opened.

**Ok, few things here, like my other, it's slightly AU, as it's after SWAK but ages before Twilight. And if I get good reviews for this I'll continue, but otherwise I'll get rid of it, but bear in mind if I do continue, it won't be 'till my other story's finished. Also, (Don't know why I'm telling y'all this but hey :P) I was torn between saying 'diapers' and 'nappies', 'cause I live in England, and we don't say 'diapers', but NCIS is set in the USA, so I decided to add it. No idea why Ducky said it, he's as British as they come lol, but he just wants to be loved! Ok, that is way too much rambling from me... Review? xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Nice to know you want me to continue! I'm afraid there might not be very quick updates :( My internets buggered up and I have to use my father's computer 0.o But hey, I'll try :P**

Abby came in grinning, bouncing a small toddler up and down in her arms. She and Kate had obviously had fun dressing him, he was wearing a pair of denim dungarees, a pale red top with the sleeves rolled up as they were obviously too long, and they must have had fun putting that diaper on him. If Ducky was correct, and he still had his speech and memories. Well, there must have been a shouting match.

Although, Gibbs mused, he still looked quite tired, his eyes kept drooping and every so often he kept dragging his thumb away from his mouth, where it had been steadily creeping towards. A clear sign of tiredness in babies.

The baby itself was actually incredibly cute. His big, dazzlingly green eyes were looking into Gibbs's own ice blue, and his tufty brown hair was falling over his face. Not knowing exactly what to do, Gibbs walked over until the baby was having trouble focusing on the huge figure and bent down so that he was eye level with it. Quietly, so he didn't scare it, he said,

"DiNozzo?" The baby looked down, as if scared to answer, (though he was probably extremely embarrased) and mumbled,

"Hey Boss." Gibbs back away in surprise. It was weird, hearing a baby talk. It definitely wasn't 28 year old's Tony's voice, but you could tell it was him. The voice was simply extremely more childish than normal.

"Done yourself proud this time huh kid?" He asked, good humoredly. The baby stuck it's tongue out but kept against Abby, snuggling up occasionally and still trying to keep his thumb out of his mouth. That was it, the kid clearly needed sleep,

"Abby, DiNozzo looks like he's gonna pass out, can you not put him down somewhere?" No one was really surprised that Gibbs could tell this, but Abby said,

"Gibbs, I have too much work to do. However much I'd love to spend time with this little cutie," She said in a patronizing voice (But you could tell how much she meant it), pausing to rub hers and Tony's cheeks together, "I need to concentrate." Gibbs looked over to Kate who backed away, saying,

"Oh no Gibbs, you're not pinning this on me, you know how long we're all going to be staying tonight." Gibbs sighed and looked over to Ducky, hoping for a suggestion,

"How about, since you're all staying in the office late tonight, you take it in turns to watch him. I assume one of you can make a small bed for him while you work?" The team shrugged to one another, and Abby smiled, handing the now sleeping Tony over to Kate,

"Awesome, baby in the office! Keep me informed, right Kate?"

"Of course Abbs." Kate replied, to which Abby grinned and went back to her lab.

--

Gibbs growled as yet another agent came up to them and peered into the drawer of the filing cabinet that he had cleaned out and stuck some blankets in which now contained a sleeping toddler. His thumb was now in his mouth, and it eased Gibbs' anger just a bit to see it.

"Is he yours Special Agent Gibbs?" the moron asked him, to which they got a,

"Nephew." Spat at them, causing them to run out the doors in a hurry. Kate chuckled, but sighed as she went over to the printer, looking down at Tony,

"Gibbs, you can't keep him in your _drawer_. I'm sure there's a law against it, and he won't be very comfortable. I'm sure we can find some kind of cheap, travelling crib thing in a shop." Gibbs ran his fingers through his hair and nodded his head. He needed to get out the office anyway,

"I guess we should. I'll go, I need coffee." Kate shook her head,

"You need sleep Gibbs, and I'm sure if he plays up or anything you'll be the one who'll calm him down easiest." Without waiting for a response she grabbed her bag and walked out. Gibbs waited until the lift doors closed until he looked down at Tony, smiling slightly as his thumb was still securely in his mouth.

"What're we gonna do with you DiNozzo?" He whispered fondly, and jumped when he got back,

"You could get me outta this drawer, my head's killing." Gibbs bit his lip guiltily and immediately scooped the toddler up, looking around for an alternative before sighing and placing him gingerly on his lap, looking around quickly to check no one was watching. It didn't do his 'street cred' as DiNozzo referred to it, if they saw him bouncing a baby on his knee, which was at that moment gurgling happily as he saw some shiny things on his boss' desk. He reached over and his tiny fingers wrapped around it, smiling as it caught that light. Without thinking, he went to put it in his mouth. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time.

"DiNozzo!!" The baby jumped and looked guiltily up at Gibbs, who was pulling an extremely stern face, "What the hell do you think you're doing? You don't put knives in your mouth!" Tony looked down guiltily and mumbled,

"Sorry Boss, but it's hard, the baby part wants to, and _I _know it's stupid, but the baby part kind of, overules me sometimes..." Gibbs sighed as he saw how downcast Tony had become.

"Just... just sit there and don't touch anything." With that he set Tony down on the floor next to his desk. The toddler felt wide awake now and sat there gazing around with wide eyes. He couldn't remember ever being so low down before. However, the office life, nothing but typing and the occasional grunt as someone almost fell asleep, was taking it's toll on Tony.

"I'm bored." He moaned, looking up at Gibbs, hoping he'd take notice of this. The older man glared down at him, but scooped him back up, again placing him very gingerly on his knee,

"You can help me with my work," He told Tony, "I need to finish the report on what happened when we arrested Warren."

"Don't put in the whole tablet thing," Tony pleaded his boss, "No one needs to know..." Gibbs rolled his eyes,

"DiNozzo, how the hell am I going to explain how he managed to do all this?" He asked, motioning toward his agent's body, "Doesn't really matter," He muttered, "I'm almost done." With that he just turned away from his computer to see McGee's desk empty,

"Where the hell did McGee go?" He snarled, too tired to be 'nice'. Tony flinched as he felt the anger and felt quite happy afterwards as Gibbs gave a quick guilty shake of the head, as if just remembering where he was.

"I think he went to talk to Abby or something," Both man and toddler turned to see Kate walking down from the lift to their office, "But I found him downstairs, he's going to help put this up." She waved an arm behind her for them both to see McGee struggling with quite a large box.

"What is it?" Tony asked excitedly, not being able to read the label. Kate smiled down at him, not having really experienced a very awake baby DiNozzo, he was pretty much out of it by the time they'd found him curled up in Abby's sleeping bag.

"It's so you don't end up sleeping on the floor Tony." Kate said, in her usual way when talking down to him, as if it was obvious,

"Aw Kate, I didn't know you cared," He grinned at her, "You don't usually care when I sleep on the floor."

"That's because you usually look absolutely disgusting, with half a slice of pizza down your face and your mouth open, snoring like a wilderbeast."

"Do wilderbeast snore?"

"Shut up Tony." The toddler shrugged and settled himself more comfortably on his boss, who looked quite embarrassed at this, though only Kate noticed, as McGee was too busy trying to slot the right pieces in place. After a few moments of silence, which was occasionally punctuated by either McGee's swearing as he got a finger trapped, and Tony's giggles as that happened. Gibbs pretended to swat him over the head whenever he did giggle, but Kate smiled as he left off at the last minute, looking away so no one saw him smiling.

"Done." McGee panted, standing up and gazing proudly at his handiwork. The crib was more of a playpen, raised off the ground slightly, with black netting round it, stopping whoever it was in there from getting out. It was a very plain cot, but it was sturdy and had been cheap, so Gibbs couldn't really care less,

"In you go DiNozzo." He muttered, and lowered the toddler into the pen, biting his cheek to stop from laughing as he saw his slightly confused face. It was clear he was only going to get out of there if someone lifted him, and he was having difficulty standing up.

"C'mon Boss, get me out, I'm not tired anymore." Gibbs shook his head,

"'Fraid not DiNozzo, we all have to stay here, so you do as well." Kate grinned at Tony and went to her desk, as did McGee, every so often glancing over to Tony, who was just sat there quietly, looking around, a slight bored expression on his face. As Gibbs settled down to do some proper work, he paused for a moment, thinking about what he said.

Who would take Tony home?

**Again, don't know when the next bit of either of my stories'll be up, so sorry about that, but I promise I'll be writing all the time ;) Review? xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm loving how much you all like this ^^ And I got my internet working again :D I just jiggled something in the back of the PC and it seemed to work! And my hand didn't get blown off, which is always a bonus :D**

It was now precisely 5 in the morning. All the agents in Gibbs' team had stayed all night, with everyone else in the building leaving. However, they weren't doing work anymore. Kate had fallen asleep with her head on her desk, snoring quietly as she rested her face on the keyboard of her computer. McGee had fallen asleep still on his chair, his head tilting back, which would definitely give him a crick in his neck when he woke up. As for Gibbs, he had slept the same way as Kate, except slightly more dignified, with his head resting on his arms on the desk.

As for Tony, he had slept on and off during the night. It was quite comfortable in the pen, he had to admit, but the horrible thing was, he was just so lonely. Sometime around 2 he'd woken up from about an hour's sleep, and immediately got given a stapler without any staples in it to keep him quiet, but the toy soon lost it's novelty. He'd whined for a bit, and when he realised they were ignoring him, he'd fallen into a moody silence, and fell asleep for another 2 hours. When he'd woken up, they were all asleep, and no amount of tiny little toddler chirping would wake them.

He sighed and willed himself to fall asleep. Either that or grow up, this was annoying him so much, why did he have to be the one who shrunk? And he thought they could at least give him _something _to do, he was going crazy here, and he was sure he would be able to do his work like any other day. He gazed down at the floor moodily, and jumped when the lights turned on,

"Tony!" A voice happily shrieked, and ran towards the pen. He looked up to see Abby stood in front of him, crouching down and smiling at him through the net of the play pen,

"How's my little brother today?" She asked, ignoring the look he gave her, she knew he liked it really.

"I'm so bored, they've all been asleep for ages and I've been on my own for ages, I really need someone to talk to or I'll go crazy..." He blinked slightly, hoping to drive away the tears building in his eyes. Abby blinked at his little rant as well, but smiled and picked him up as soon as she saw he was about to cry,

"Hey, come on little sprocket..."

"Sprocket?" Tony asked, happy now he was getting some attention,

"I used to call my little sister it, always calmed her down when she was about to have a tantrum."

"I _wasn't _going to have a tantrum." Tony retorted, voice gaining volume as he argued. Abby bounced him up and down slightly, eyeing Gibbs nervously,

"Please don't Tony, Gibbs'll shoot me if I make you cry or something." Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as they were finally moving out of that office and into Abby's lab, which had a strange, comforting feel to it. It was quite cool down there, as the machines needed the temperature to be quite cold, and Tony found it much better than the office, which was quite warm and stuffy.

"Hey Tony, can you walk?" Abby asked, looking down at him with interest,

"Don't know, I haven't really been given the chance, Gibbs won't let me out of his sight after I almost ate his knife..." Tony answered, leaving Abby to gaze at him, open-mouthed,

"You almost ate his knife?" She exclaimed, her pigtails dancing around behind her, "You must have been one messed up kid!" Tony grinned at her and said,

"You think I should try walking?" She nodded excitedly, and watched as he tried to stand, which she was surprised to see, he found quite difficult.

"Hey Tony, stop a sec, I just want to check something." He nodded and sat back on the floor, but felt alone again. Why did everyone walk away from him? He wasn't that strong at walking, so he settled for a crawl, and soon found himself over to Abby in no time at all,

"Aw, look at you my little greyhound." She praised him, picking him up and rubbing their noses together, enjoying the pink colour he turned.

"What're you doing?" He asked, cringing as he heard himself talk, sure he was annoying everyone when he did. Was his voice always so... infantile?

"I'm seeing what age is normal for little kids to start walking, my little brother and sister both started when they were about 12 months old, and you're round about 18 months, so I'm surprised you're finding it hard." Tony shrugged and said,

"My mom said I was a late developer, she said I learnt to talk quickly, but it took me quite a while to walk, 'cause my dad liked to keep me out of trouble, so he made sure no one taught me how to walk 'till I was past the 'terrible twos'." Abby looked at him sadly, but quickly shook her head and said,

"Well, we need to get you walking whippet, I can't wait to see Gibbs' face when he's trying to catch you in the office. Give him hell, my little puppy!" Tony shook his head, smiling,

"Are you never gonna let up with the whole dog nickname thing?"

"Hey, it's in the best possible taste! Now come on, let's see those legs go!" Tony giggled and pushed himself up from the floor with his short arms and managed to get himself to a standing position. Abby grinned happily as the toddler slowly started putting one foot in front of another, gingerly stepping... before falling onto his backside. Abby rushed to his side, but he was unhurt, and tried again,

"Maybe it'll be easier if you had a goal," Abby mused, "Try and walk to me!" She crouched down a few metres away from him, holding her arms out,

"C'mon pup, walk to me. Come to Auntie Abby!" She shook her head and said, "I don't like that, just call me Abby." Tony laughed, which made him loose his balance once more. He huffed as he was almost half way to her. Then, a voice right behind him made him jump and he almost started crying,

"You're not trying very hard, are you DiNozzo?" Tony shuffled around to see Gibbs crouched down behind him, an amused smirk on his face,

"It's harder than it looks!" He defended, but it was in vain, as both Abby and Gibbs sniggered. He pouted and turned to try and crawl away as dignified as possible,

"You're giving up?" Gibbs sounded so indignant, so... dissapointed. Tony bit his lip and turned back round. He pushed himself to standing again, and shakily walked a few feet, managing to reach Gibbs' open arms, but had yet to fall into them,

"Well, DiNozzo?" He asked, expectantly, "You're not finished yet." Tony smiled at him and pushed himself a bit further, finally reaching his boss and was picked up from the floor,

"Abbs, when was the last time this floor was mopped? He's filthy!" Gibbs said, making Tony blush,

"Hey, if you're so bothered, I'll change his clothes, it's just those that are _slightly_ dirty." She shot back, before plucking Tony from Gibbs' arms and stalking off to her desk, where she and Kate had obviously stashed the rest of the baby clothes.

"I want him back in the office in 5 minutes Abbs!" Gibbs yelled, and walked out, leaving a bottle of Caf-Pow in his wake.

--

Kate and McGee were just straightening themselves out as they saw Abby walk in with Tony. He looked quite red, but they had no idea why. Kate guessed it was because Abby had changed his clothes, but she didn't know why he'd be that bothered, they'd done it yesterday and he hadn't cared. Though he was half asleep...

"Hey guys!" Abby chirped, setting Tony down on his chair, "Kate, what d'you think about his clothes? I didn't have that much time to pick them, Gibbs wanted him up here ASAP." Kate nodded understandingly,

"Yeah, you should have heard him when he saw Tony was gone. He thought he'd been kidnapped or something, after we'd told him there was no way he'd gotten out of there on his own." Abby swallowed. An angry Gibbs was never good.

"Still," She brightened, "What d'you think of his clothes?" Kate looked at him and smiled. He was wearing dungarees again, but the material was different, and they were a bright red colour, and they only came to his knees. Also, he was wearing a plain white t-shirt, and Abby had managed to find some small white trainers that she'd stuck on his feet. Kate smiled as she saw they had velcro fastenings.

"I thought we should definitely change his clothes before he goes to sleep," Abby continued, "Into one of those adorable little sleeping suits in there." Kate agreed but immediately bent her head down and started to work as Gibbs walked round the corner,

"What's up with DiNozzo?" He asked, barely glancing at the toddler as he walked past. Kate looked over and shrugged, seeing he was still as red as before,

"Maybe he has a temperature?" Kate suggested, walking over and laying a cool hand on his forehead, "Abby he's really warm, what if he picked something up when he was down in the lab? What if he's ill?" She was getting rather hysterical, until Abby layed a hand on her arm,

"Kate, relax, he's fine, I know why he's so hot and bothered." Tony went an even deeper shade of red, at which Abby's heart melted, "He's fine." She finished, and walked over to Gibbs, while Kate started to talk to Tony, who at first started to answer in small, quiet words, but eventually got some gusto back and was chattering away nineteen to the dozen.

"You going to tell me why you took him to your lab without leaving a note?" Gibbs asked in a low voice, not looking up from his work.

"He was bored Gibbs, he was sat there in the middle of a dark office with everyone else asleep. I couldn't just leave him! And I didn't think... about the note I mean. Sorry." Gibbs smiled at her slightly. He couldn't stay mad at Abby.

"So what's he all red for?" He asked, looking over, even though the toddler was no longer bright red, and was gaining his normal colouring back. Abby giggled slightly, but shook her head, trying to regain her composure,

"I know I shouldn't laugh really, but well... he needed changing... and I wasn't going to let him sit there, damp and wet all day." She rushed her small speech, wondering what Gibbs would make of it. Obviously he knew Tony would need changing, he had the body of an 18 month old and was clearly sat there in diapers, but it was still quite embarrassing. For some reason he felt he wouldn't really need to deal with it.

"Did he ask you, or did you just... guess?" Gibbs asked quietly, staring intently at his computer screen,

"It's kind of hard not to figure out when you're changing his clothes as well Gibbs. But I don't see why he didn't tell me. I mean, am I that unapproachable?" Gibbs chuckled and layed a hand on Abby's arm, finally looking up to meet her eyes,

"It'll be embarrassing for the poor kid Abbs, how would you feel?" AShe shrugged and said,

"Still, it's not as if there was anything to be embarrassed about. He's just a baby, it's not like there's that much..."

"Ok Abbs, you can stop now," Gibbs said, holding his hand up, now grinning, the goth always managed to cheer him up, ironically, "Why don't you go back to your lab? We've got a bit of work, but it's the weekend tomorrow, so you'll get to relax if we don't get called in." Abby smiled at her boss, and was just about to turn away, before asking,

"Hey Gibbs? Where's Tony gonna go at the weekend? We can't just sit him in a taxi and get him to crawl to his place."

"He can walk."

"Not funny Gibbs!"

"Calm down Abby. It's fine, I was thinking about that myself. Just relax, we'll find someone to take him home."

"It should be someone he knows," Abby suggested, a glint in her eye, "Someone who he trusts, and who he feels comfortable around, someone..."

"Are you hinting about someone Abbs?" He asked, a slight cold tone to his voice, "Possibly... me?" She grinned and yelled over to where Kate, McGee and Tony were sat,

"Hey guys, it's ok, Tony's gonna stay with Gibbs!" All of them looked puzzled, and Abby felt someone stand up behind her, so she quickly jumped up and cried,

"Don't try to deny it Gibbs, I taped it!" With that, she pulled out a tape recorder and played back their small conversation, somehow missing a part, so all they heard was,

_"It should be someone he knows, someone who he trusts, and who he feels comfortable around, someone..."_

_"Possibly... me?"_

It was clearly Gibbs' voice offering, and they all looked at him, mouths open. Gibbs growled, but had to force a laugh back as Abby scuttled away, before planting a kiss on Tony's head. It wouldn't be that hard. And he had to admit, he had more experience around babies than everyone else.

His phone rang and he grabbed it, barking into it,

"Gibbs." He listened for a few minutes before putting it back down and saying,

"Grab your gear, we've got the body of a dead marine in some woodland." Automatically, Tony tried to slide off his chair and take his backpack, but his legs were too short, and he fell, hitting the ground with a sharp _thud_. Kate ran over and picked him up, rubbing him on the back as he started howling in pain, having grazed his arm on the way down,

"Come on Tony, I know you're... you, but that can't have hurt that much, don't be such a drama queen." This made him wail louder, and Kate was very much aware of Gibbs' stare boring into her, and knew he'd shout for not stopping Tony's crying. She straightened up and looked over apologetically at Gibbs,

"I'm sorry Boss," She said, "But I can't get him to stop. Maybe if we just leave him with Abby until we get back..." She was cut off as Gibbs leant forward and took Tony from her, rubbing his back and bouncing him soothingly, which, even though it was exactly what Kate had done, almost immediately made him stop, and he started to snuffle subconciously into his boss' jacket.

"Gas the truck Kate." Gibbs ordered quietly, and walked over to the lift, leaving Kate to stare after him.

**Wow that was long :P I didn't really expect it to go on for that much lol. And please don't think I'm abandoning my other story, but i got a small idea and my brain cogs started whirring, so I had to type it. And don't think you'll get as quick an update as you did now lol, I'm gonna try and finish my other story. Though, as we know, I say that and I'll have finished this before that one! Review? xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya ;) Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ I just can't seem to leave this story alone lol :P**

"Hey Boss?" Tony looked up as he was sat quite comfortabley in Gibbs' arms. They were stood by the lift, and were just waiting for Kate to join them,

"Yes, DiNozzo?"

"Sorry..." Gibbs looked down in surprise. He honestly didn't know what the kid was apologizing for, so he asked,

"What for?" Tony shifted slightly in his arms, which made him instinctively move them, so that the toddler would still be comfortable.

"For the whole... crying thing. It's just... things seem to upset me a lot more than they did before, and maybe I..."

"Tony," Gibbs interrupted, firmly, "Don't apologise, you're probably going to feel things more now, I mean, have you never heard babies crying? Dear god they cry at anything! I'm not surprised you started crying to be honest." He fell silent, and Tony was amazed. It wasn't like his boss to give him a pep talk like that. Kate had now joined them, and was wondering why they were both so serious and quiet right now, but before she could say anything, Tony piped up,

"Kate, can I sit with you in the van?" Both Kate and Gibbs stared at each other, the question sounding nothing more than an innocent, childish one., "In the front? Please!" Gibbs chuckled as the doors of the lift closed and Kate managed to stutter out,

"Er... sure, sure Tony, but I don't think it'll be very safe. We should get him a car seat." This last bit she said aside to Gibbs, who nodded and said,

"Tony, you're going to sit on Kate's knee when we drive anywhere." His eyes widened and he looked like he would protest, or start to cry in anger,

"It's either that or McGee's." Gibbs growled, sure this threat would work. However, Tony was one hell of a stubborn child, and ground his teeth together angrily,

"I don't want to!" He almost yelled, making both adults wince and stare at each other in surprise. They were both sure that Tony had always been a sort of, 'happy-go-lucky' child. They'd never thought he'd be quite as spoilt and annoying as he was right now. Kate was about to say something to him, when she almost fell over. Gibbs had switched the emergency stop button on, and they had suddenly juddered to a halt.

Tony hadn't even realized, and was drumming his heels into Gibbs' side, whining about nothing.

"Young man if you don't stop this nonsense right now I swear to god I'll spank you right here, right now. I don't care how old you may be in mind, but right now, you're coming off as a spoilt, cranky child, and I really don't have the patience this early on a morning to deal with it. So you better shut up and deal with the fact that you're going to have to sit on someone's knee while we go, 'cause I _will _carry out my threat." Gibbs said this harshly, never once raising his voice, but saying it so firmly Kate felt sorry for Tony. The toddler had stopped whining now, and was sat there, almost frozen, waiting for someone to say something.

Gibbs reached forward and made the lift go again. He flinched as he looked down and saw the small boy sat there, sometimes trying to edge away from his arms, and poised as if ready to try and escape.

--

They had pulled up in the woodland where the marine's body had been found. Both Tony and Gibbs hadn't said a word since they'd left the lift, and Kate and McGee had been starting to get incredibly uncomfortable. Kate hadn't minded Tony sitting on her lap, in fact he was extremely comfortable, with the diaper he was wearing cushioning her.

"Kate photos, McGee, bag and tag." Gibbs finally spoke, and got out the van,

"What do I do?" Tony asked, his voice small and quiet. Gibbs didn't even look back as he said,

"Stay there and out of trouble." Tony looked down at the ground mournfully. The other two agents got out as well, hastily saying goodbye as they went off to their respectful duties. Tony stayed where Kate had left him on the seat, lip wobbling as he tried to bite back tears. He supposed he'd been a bit annoying, but he honestly couldn't help it. It must have been the sleeping pattern, he decided. He knew that his mum had given him a very strict pattern when he was small, and this had just thrown it all out of balance.

Yes, that must have been it. He decided he should apologise to Gibbs, explain, and then maybe he wouldn't be so angry. Knowing what happened last time he'd tried to get off somewhere, he wisely decided to get someone to lift him down. He knew he'd be able to walk from there, the crime scene wasn't that far away.

"Hey! Probie!" McGee looked over, not far from the van, "Will ya get me down?" He asked, putting on an angelic face and saying, "Please?"

"Er... I don't know Tony, Gibbs said to stay there..." Tony upped it slightly by making his lip wobble, and McGee hastily picked him up, underneath the armpits (He'd never been comfortable around babies). Not knowing where to put him, McGee looked around for a few seconds, before Tony sighed,

"On the floor McGee." McGee nodded and set him down,

"Tony, I don't know what you're going to do, but I don't think I should you unsupervised..."

"Back to work Probie!" He yelled, and McGee, so used to this treatment, jumped and turned back to his work. Tony grinned. He could already see Gibbs and Kate by the body, and he supposed he could just make out Ducky's head. He hadn't seen Ducky in ages, he realised, he should really go and say hello.

Carefully, he toddled through the woodland, occasionally stumbling over pieces of grass and sticks. He had to keep grabbing out for trees and was every so often distracted by the flash of the camera. He thought he could sneak up on them quietly, surprise them, maybe make Gibbs forget his anger. However, he tripped once more when he got over to them and the thud on the ground gave him away.

Although he didn't cry this time, all three of them heard the sound and looked round, in time to see Tony hastily try to stand up, blushing.

DiNozzo! What the hell did I tell you? Stay in the van! Is that so hard? I don't see why I should..." Tony had completely zoned out, and was staring at the body that Ducky was examining. The marine looked to have been badly knifed, his stomach actually falling out of his body, his face beyond repair, blood drying on his body. Tony started whimpering. He'd seen bodies before, of course he had, and he didn't see why this was upsetting him so much. Ducky noticed this while Gibbs continued to shout,

"Er, Jethro..." he stopped to look at Ducky, and then at Tony, who was still staring at the body, but now tears were pouring down his face. He was scared of being shouted at again, so didn't make any noise, but couldn't stop the salty liquid sliding down. Gibbs bit his lip. He hadn't known that toddlers could be so... emotional. He hadn't known they could feel empathy for others **(A/N - they can just so you know ;) I'm a psychology student me :P)**. He picked Tony up, forgetting the anger he had previously felt toward his young agent,

"Tony, it's alright, come on, let's go back to the van, ok?" Tony nodded, pushing himself into his boss' jacket, sobbing quietly, still somehow scared that the soft, kind tone would suddenly change, and he'd lash out.

Gibbs didn't stop rubbing Tony's back until they were safely back at the van. The toddler had quietened somewhat, and was now just weakly snuffling, unconsciously trying to snuggle into Gibbs. When the older man was sure he'd stopped, he sat Tony down on the seat and whispered, crouching so they were eye to eye,

"What was all that for DiNozzo?" Tony miserably sniffed, and shrugged his shoulders. They were both quiet for a minute, before Tony said meekly,

"I'm sorry."

"Sign of weakness Tony." That got a tiny smile on the toddler's face. Then, "What for?" Tony wiped his nose on his hand, and said,

"'Cause I was so...bratty before, and not doing what you asked..."

"Tony, you were feeling left out, I can understand why you followed, that's one of the reasons I hired you. But I have to admit kid, that display back at the office, there's not really an excuse for that, is there?" At first Tony was shaking his head, but then he piped up,

"I did think of one!" Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, inviting him to go on, "My mom said she always had me go to sleep at a certain time, like a schedule, so maybe the sleeping last night kind of... upset the balance? I did feel kinda cranky..." Gibbs was nodding, taking it in,

"It sort of makes sense. Ok then, to avoid anything like that again, you might want to tell me what that schedule was." Tony looked to be thinking for a moment, before saying,

"She said I had naps at 10 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and when she put me down to sleep at 7, I didn't wake up 'till about 6 in the morning. She said it was amazing, all her friends were jealous." Tony was smiling at this happy memory, before blinking back to reality and saying,

"When are going back?" Gibbs glanced at his watch. It was half nine, and if Tony _had _taken naps at 10 in the morning, he wanted to get back and put him down for a couple of hours.

"Now." Gibbs answered, and motioned over Kate and McGee.

"Hey Boss?" he asked, just before the other two joined them, "Can I sit on your knee when we go back?" Gibbs smiled softly and nodded, throwing the keys to Kate so he could have the toddler on his knee.

--

When they were halfway there, and Tony had fallen asleep on Gibbs' knee, sucking his thumb, the ex-marine asked quietly,

"How did Tony get out of the van?" McGee looked around cautiously and stuttered out,

"Me Boss. He asked me to let him out. Sorry. I... er, I didn' think." Gibbs leant over, careful not to disturb Tony, and said,

"You may have just mentally scarred a young child McGee. Think about that the next time you look into his eyes." Gibbs pointed at Tony, which made McGee gulp and turn a nasty shade of white, and made Kate ask,

"What happened Boss?" She got no answer. Just the grinding of teeth and the sight of Gibbs combing his fingers very slowly through Tony's hair.

**Aw, boo, no! Not as long as the other :( Ah well. Hmm, I need some ideas for future chapters tbh. Help? Anyone? Reviews are nice as well :D I especially like ribena and/or tropicana :P And icecream ^^ Ben and Jerry's style. And I really wanna watch Dr Who right now. Yanno that one with the weeping angels? Hmm... David Tennant meets NCIS... :) Interesting :P And Johnny Bravo :D xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the brilliant reviews and ideas you all gave me ^^ Maybe all of your minds work as one, I had a lot of cute ideas that everyone thought of :D I'm definitely gonna try and put all of them in lol.**

As they got back into the building, all three agents were quiet going up in the lift, none speaking and hardly daring to breathe as they listened to Tony's deep breaths, snuggled against Gibbs comfortabley, the older man's arms wrapped around him tightly, keeping him in a strong hold, with no danger of him falling. The lift doors opened and they all wordlessly got out, Kate and McGee rushing to their desks. There was a lot of work to be done on this one.

Gibbs meanwhile, reached his desk and carefully set the sleeping baby down in the net pen next to it. He covered him up with a blanket and smiled slightly, as Tony immediately dragged the blanket over his face and started chewing the corner. Gibbs bent over the pen and gently tugged the blanket out of his mouth, grinning now as Tony replaced that with various fingers.

"Gibbs?" He looked round to see Kate stood behind him, holding a sheaf of papers in her hands. He nodded at her to go on, which she did, clearing her throat slightly,

"Our dead marine is a Joshua Green, was reported missing a few weeks ago by his roomate, as far as I can find, he's never shown any interest in hiking or nature, so I'm assuming he was dumped in that woodland."

"Don't assume." Gibbs reprimanded, but without his usual hard tone. Kate nodded and continued,

"Ducky called and said he might have found the cause of death, should we head down?" Gibbs nodded, and was about to grab Tony, but remembered the effect seeing that body had on him. He didn't want to take him down to autopsy, sure that picking him up would wake him up, thus making him see the body, but neither did he want to just leave him here. All the agents on their floor had been told Tony had to go back home for a 'family emergency' and that the baby was Gibbs' nephew, but he was still wary of leaving him up here unattended.

"McGee!" He yelled, making his mind up, "You stay here with Tony, Kate and I'll go and see Ducky, if we need to see Abby as well, we'll come back up so we can get him." McGee nodded and sat at his desk, casting feverent eyes on the pen taking up most of the space in the office.

After about 5 minutes he relaxed. Nothing had happened and Tony hadn't even gicen the slightest snuffle. He started to do some work, tapping softly at the keys on his keyboard. Then he heard it. A small moan and a slittle shuffle from inside the pen. He gulped and cautiously padded over. Looking down, he saw Tony fussing about, curling up one second and then spreading himself out, moaning and clutching at his blanket. At first, McGee thought he might be ill, but he realised the baby was having a nightmare.

McGee did have a younger sister, so he knew something about waking people out of nightmares, but he wasn't so sure about babies. He carefully reached in and gently shook his shoulder, and drew back to whisper,

"Er... Tony? Tony, wake up... please? Erm, will you wake up? Please?" He almost laughed as he heard how formal and nervous he sounded, when talking to a baby. At first, McGee thought it did the trick and Tony slowly opened his eyes, but he wasn't completely with him, the young agent could see that. His eyes had started to well up, and he was looking at something that wasn't quite there. He started to properly cry now, everyone's attention being drawn to Special Agent Gibbs' office when a wailing 18 month old started to disrupt everyone's work.

"Oh no, Tony, come on, don't! Look, I'll let you probie slap me, I'll let you... I'll let you look through my computer, but please stop, Gibbs'll kill me, please?" The baby gave no signal at all that he'd heard or even understood what McGee had said, and had now started to thrash about, while the crying steadily gained volume. McGee had no choice but to pick him up, other agents popping their heads above their office walls to see why the sprog hadn't stopped crying yet.

He gingerly reached in, awkwardly picking Tony up, again holding him by the armpits. He jiggled him up and down in vain, hoping to quieten him, but he couldn't do anything, and was very close to resorting to making funny faces and seeing if that made any difference. He almost sighed with relief as he felt a sharp swat to the back of his head, but was still quite scared as to what Gibbs would do to him. What if he didn't believe Tony had been having a nightmare, and thought that McGee had somehow caused the shrieking?

Thankfully, the boss wasn't saying anything at that moment, and was completely focusing on Tony. It was amazing how calm and content his face went when looking at him. Even when Tony was normal, McGee could just make out the care in Gibbs' eyes when he looked at his senior field agent, but now it was almost gooey_..._ _so _un-Gibbs.

The boss just held Tony (Properly) and shushed him, making small soothing noises, rubbing his back as he'd done every other time he'd needed to soothe him in this state. Both Kate and McGee could see him whispering something, but neither could hear or tell what it was,

"It's ok Tony, it's fine, I'm here now, so it's ok. Shh now kiddo, you're fine." It wasn't long before Tony stopped, and Gibbs had been kind of hoping he'd just fall asleep again, but he didn't, and was looking around him with red eyes and tears still clinging to his eyelashes.

"I'm fine now." He whispered, sniffing hard and wiping his nose on his hand. Gibbs tutted and pulled his hand away, quickly swiping a tissue from the box he had on his desk. He flicked it under his young charge's nose.

"Now," He said, finally having got Tony, more or less, sorted out, "What was that all about?" Tony sniffed miserably and glanced at Kate and McGee, before looking back at Gibbs and answering quietly,

"I had nightmare." he looked down and sounded so dejected Gibbs felt terrible. He knew he should have brought Tony with them, rather than leave him in the not-so-capable hands of McGee. He wouldn't shout at him though, he decided, it really wasn't his fault. Gibbs knew how uncomfortable around children he was. Jumping him up so that he was sat straighter, he said to Tony,

"Well, how about we go and see Abby, see what she's got for us." Tony nodded slightly and buried his face in his boss's shoulder with a small, content sigh. Gibbs hugged him ever so slightly and started down to the lab, which made Kate's heart melt, although she was sure McGee had missed it.

Really, being the only, slightly broody at this point, woman had it's disadvantages.

--

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed happily, and shrieked even louder when she saw Tony in his arms, "And little Tony!" Tony blushed slightly and struggled to get down on the floor. Gibbs set him down, suddenly experiencing a moment of emptiness in his arms, as if something was severely missing. Tony stumbled at first, but found his feet and toddled over to Abby, beaming as she said,

"Who's been practising?" She kissed his head but frowned as she heard his stomach growl,

"Gibbs!" She yelled again, only she sounded almost... angry? Barely anyone would shout at the boss, but Abby looked as though sparks were coming out of her eyes, "When did you last feed him?" Gibbs looked almost shamefaced, but stared right back at Abby and said,

"We haven't yet Abbs, I don't know when was the last time he ate, but I'm guessing it was probably pizza."

"Pizza would be good." Tony mumbled, before getting a small prod in the stomach that made him squirm and giggle slightly. Abby stopped whatever she was about to say and remarked happily,

"Oh, you're ticklish!" She set about tickling him, completely ravishing him until he could barely breathe. His childish giggles bounced off the walls. She soon stopped, and handed him back to Gibbs, before saying,

"Feed him Gibbs! If he even loses half a tenth of a pound I'll hunt you down, and it won't be pretty." Gibbs didn't doubt the goth girl, and merely grimaced in reply, before turning around and asking,

"What about the case Boss?" She stuck her tongue out at him and replied,

"It'll be at least another half hour Gibbs, that's _more _than enough time to feed him!" Gibbs rolled his eyes and stalked off, before shouting over his shoulder,

"Kate, make a shopping list! I want a couple of jars of baby food, a high chair, a bib, a spoon, a car seat, a buggy and one of those harness/lead things that you give to ferrets only in his size," Kate give him an odd look as she'd been walking near to him writing this all down. He stopped and raised an eyebrow, "Well what are you waiting for Agent Todd? Go!" She went, chortling as she imagined Tony in a harness, and guessed Tony himself could as well, a she could hear both him and Gibbs arguing all the way down the corridor, back up the lift.

--

However, she never actually found a baby harness in the shop she went in, but bought a few toys to make up for it. She just loved seeing him as a baby, and thought he might as well have fun until they found an antidote. She also knew Tony well enough now to know when he wanted something, and when he was given that stapler the other night, she could tell he wanted something else to keep him occupied.

So she carted everything back to NCIS, and collared a few probies downstairs to help her carry it all up. When they had distributed it all she waved them away, before Tony said something, which he did not a second later,

"I am _not _sitting in a high chair. _Or _a buggy. I can _walk_!" He looked cranky again, but Gibbs simply stuck him in the chair (Which the probies had also set up). It was a simple plastic white one, with a pale blue seat and back, and a picture of a family of ducks on the tray, plodding along quite happily.

"Ok," He began, fishing around in the bags until he found what he was looking for, "Would you rather have carrots and peas, spaghetti bolognaise or... Shepherd's pie? Kate is this honestly baby food?" She flicked her hair back haughtily and replied,

"Of course I'm sure Gibbs, it was under the sign '1 year olds to 1 and a half'. Though I'm pretty sure he should be teething now." They all looked over to him as if he would miraculously start then. He blinked and looked back,

"I haven't eaten normal Shepherd's pie, let alone mushed up pie. This looks disgusting."

"You'll eat what I put in front of you." Gibbs muttered, and opened the jar, tipping it into the bowl Kate had bought. Tying the bib around Tony's neck, he stood back and stuck the bowl on the tray,

"Open wide." He said, and stuck the spoon in, getting a reasonable amount on it before putting the spoon gently into Tony's mouth. The baby froze. He had never been so embarrassed. What did he do? He obviously needed to eat it, but it was Gibbs. _Gibbs_of all people was stood here feeding him and now he was sat like a lemon. Eventually he swallowed, and hesitantly opened his mouth, wondering if it would be rude to assume that his boss would happily keep going until all the food was gone. However, he did, and soon Tony forgot all about it, happy to have food in his tummy. Eventually, Gibbs was scraping the bowl and looked up to where Kate was pretending not to look,

"Is that it? Surely he won't be full after that?" Tony shrugged and said,

"I am pretty hungry still..." Kate grinned, she'd been hoping this would happen,

"I thought maybe that might be the case, so I bought a cup for him. I didn't think I should go so far as the whole bottle and formula thing." Gibbs nodded and watched as Kate started to pour juice into a sippy-cup. He looked back and found that the food had gotten all the way down Tony's bib and over his face. Rolling his eyes, Gibbs leant forward and started to get the stuff off his face with a tissue, mumbling,

"Mucky pup." Just as Kate leant forward with the cup,

"The stuff in it has nutrients and things in it as well, so it might make him more full." Tony took it from her almost greedily, and was about to raise it to his mouth before pointing to a bag and asking,

"What's that?" Leering out from inside the carrier, a soft toy was staring out at them all, "Is it for me?" He asked, not holding back the enthusiasm. Kate nodded and picked it out. It was a honey coloured teddy bear, with a patchwork patch on it's stomach, looking worn but was clearly brand new. It's ear looked quite raggedy, but apart from that he looked like a perfect teddy. Kate passed him over, and he touched it experimentally first, and looked thrilled at how soft it was,

"Don't forget to give it a name DiNozzo." Gibbs murmured, to which Tony thought hard for a second before answering,

"George." He looked pleased with his choice, but his face soon turned to one of anguish as Gibbs took it off him.

"Hey!" He yelled, looking appalled,

"Drink first. Bear later." He promised, so at once Tony grabbed the cup, sucking as though his life depended on it. He soon slowed though, and Gibbs had the good sense to pick him up out of the high chair before he fell asleep in it. However, he couldn't just stand up whilst holding a drinking baby, so he sat down on his chair. Tony soon stopped drinking altogether, it was as if his arms couldn't manage now he was so comfortable. Sighing, Gibbs picked the cup up off Tony's chest and started feeding him, much like a proper baby.

The cup was soon empty, and he wasn't really aware of anything anymore. However, one word he heard from Gibbs made him _extremely _awake again.

"Change." He'd muttered this word to himself, knowing Tony needed one half way through the whole drinking thing, but hadn't wanted to do it until Tony was completely asleep. However, he started fussing as soon as he heard it, trying to struggle away,

"It's fine," He hissed, trying to make sure no one else heard, "I don't need it changing." Gibbs watched him, a small amused smirk coming up at one of the corners of his mouth,

"Yeah? You gonna sit in that the entirety of this? 'Cause I'd find that pretty uncomfortable kiddo." Tony sighed, knowing he was beaten. He decided to just stay quiet, and maybe the boss would just get embarrassed as well, and decide not to do it. However, he announced, to the whole room,

"Anyone seen the kid's diaper bag?" Tony cringed and promised to whoever was watching up there all of his DVDs if he could somehow miraculously disappear. Both Kate and McGee glanced over, seeing how bright, fire-truck red Tony had gone. Gibbs stayed cool as a cucumber, and rummaged around for a while longer until he found it. _Oh dear god don't let him do it here _Tony prayed, but the boss simply stuck him down on the floor and started to change him.

Tony had never known what real embarrassment was until he'd endured that. He knew it would have happened eventually, but he honestly hadn't thought about it. The only good thing was he was getting more tired, so wasn't really thinking apart from, _Wonder when he'll be done so I can go to bed._ The process seemed to take forever, Gibbs was extremely meticulous, wiping, spraying, doing god knows what down there. Then, finally - _finally_, the man was done and pulling Tony's dungarees back up him.

"Here, I promised you it when you'd finished that drink." Gibbs said, as if nothing had happened, and handed him George. Tony didn't even realise he did it, but hugged the bear, and was set down in the pen,

"Go to sleep kiddo, I'll wake you in about two hours, then we'll go home." Tony nodded, sleep washing over him, already forgetting the whole incident. He was soon out completely, and rolled over slightly, tightening his hold on George.

**That embarrassing enough for you? Lol, maybe not, but whatever :P Wow, I've done myself proud on length this time :D Btw, I have no idea about baby food, so if an 18 month about to start teething doesn't eat baby food like that (I asked my mum and she said there are foods like spag bol in baby jars lol) please correct me! Review? xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiya ;) Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ And for all your advice and wisdom :D I'm not sure what to do now, but as I haven't specifically said Tony doesn't have any teeth, how about we all agree he has quite a few, but there's still room for some teething scenes? Ok...**

Gibbs looked down into the pen to see Tony still fast asleep. The thick, white diaper he himself had put on the baby you could just see from the dungarees. Gibbs leant in and pulled them up a bit, covering the diaper. He glanced at his watch. He might as well take Tony home now, get him settle in. He knew from experience that babies had to get accustomed to somewhere before settling down, or they might not sleep properly. Was it all babies or just specific ones? Because he was sure Tony was fairly adaptable. However, he bent down and picked Tony up,

"Come on tough guy, home time." Tony mumbled something but opened his eyes, rubbing at them and making small noises, still clutching George,

"We goin' home now?" He asked, still sleepy. Gibbs nodded and slowly walked over to the lift, careful not to make Tony jump,

"I'll see you on Monday," He said to Kate and McGee who were likewise getting ready to go, "I want that report on my desk McGee." He added, and stepped into the lift.

"Gibbs?" Kate called from the office, and Gibbs stuck his foot in the lift door to stop it from closing, "I put all that stuff in your car, but make sure he gets more food, and some babies still have bottles before bed or naps, so I bought one of them, but if you don't..." Gibbs removed his foot, quite annoyed. He _knew _how to look after a baby, he'd managed it with Kelly. He'd done very well with Kelly. And he wasn't going to make the same mistakes with Tony. He wouldn't panic when he found that baby would be slightly hot or have a runny nose, like he had last time. He knew what to expect.

"Gibbs?" He looked down as he heard his voice chirped by Tony, "I'm hungry again." He said it matter of factly, but rather ashamed, as if scared he was being rude. Gibbs nodded and said,

"We'll drop into the supermarket on the way back, I was running low on food anyway." Tony relaxed against him but didn't fall asleep. He knew about his routine, and he really didn't want Gibbs angry with him again after he was tired.

--

Kate had helpfully put everything she'd bought in the boot, but put the car seat in the passenger side. After quickly rustling through some bags, Gibbs found that she'd stuck more clothes in, and she'd bought some more toys as wells as George. He'd get them out when they got back, when he was making dinner, as doubtless Tony would get bored. Sticking him in the car seat, Gibbs went round to his side and set off. He drove quickly, but refrained from driving his usual speed, he was terrified of upsetting Tony.

Soon enough they arrived at the supermarket, and Gibbs got Tony out, saying as he did,

"Would you rather walk or sit in the trolley?" Tony had never been a fan of sitting in the trolley, he'd much preferred to see where he was going, rather than the chest of their nanny.

"I'll walk." He replied, and was set down on the pavement. He saw that Gibbs was locking the car, so went round to him, scared of being forgotten. The boss saw this and smiled, a genuine smile that was warm and happy. He started walking, slowly so that Tony could keep up, but soon lost patience. He wanted to be home before it got dark, so he gently took one of Tony's hands and pulled him along, not so much as for him to fall over, but he was definitely moving faster than he had been.

"Hey Boss?" Tony chirped, from his position on the floor, "I think I will sit in the trolley." He looked down, scared that he'd disappointed Gibbs, but his legs were really hurting. Gibbs just nodded and picked him up when they got to the trolleys and placed him on the seat.

As they were going down the aisles, Tony kept trying to turn around and see where they were going. For some reason this didn't surprise Gibbs. He thought that Tony would be the kind of person/baby that would need to see where they were going, to take everything in. He never did miss much on a crime scene. Even so, it was getting annoying,

"You want me to give you a running commentary, DiNozzo?" He asked drily, making Tony blush and shake his head, staying sat up straight. Gibbs wasn't too sure what to get. He knew he needed his usual things, and bought some extra milk and juice, and in the end decided to just give Tony small bowls of whatever he had. However, he went down the baby aisle, going down it slowly so that he knew what was on the shelves.

With Tony otherwise engaged (I.e, chewing his fingers and staring at the bakery aisle behind them) he flung several things in he knew he would need. A dummy would help hugely if he ever felt like another tantrum, a teething ring, so he would pick something bad up and chew that instead, he got some baby shampoo and bubble bath, and finally stuck in a bath toy, so he could take his mind off the bath he didn't know he'd be getting that night.

Deciding he was done, Gibbs went to the till and payed, keeping Tony in the trolley until he got back to his car and sitting him in the car seat. He put all the bags in the boot, careful not to squash anything and left the trolley where it was. He finally got into the car and looked over at Tony, who looked back, looking slightly bemused as if he didn't know how he'd got there, and drove off.

--

"Think you can carry that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, handing him the lightest carrier bag which contained a few loaves of bread. Tony nodded and tightened his hold on it, his face set in grim determination, wanting to make Gibbs proud.

"Attaboy." Was what he got, which he was pretty happy about, as his boss didn't throw them around.

Getting into Gibbs' house was like stepping into Narnia. He had never been all the way round his boss' house before. There had been times when he'd needed to go down to the basement, but he'd never been much further. Deciding that Gibbs would be busy with his unpacking, and safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't be attached to a leash of some sort, he decided to explore.

He toddled off, after leaving the bags in the hall, and looked up at Gibbs' home. It was very homely, more so than his own, which was weird, as he usually felt extremely at ease in his own home, but now he felt almost too relaxed, which made him feel tired. Maybe he should just fall asleep on the sofa or something. Gibbs wouldn't mind, he'd be staying out of the ex-marine's way. However, something else was beckoning. The opportunity was too good to miss and he felt himself drawn to the stairs. He was sure he could manage them, his legs were only _slightly_ shorter than they normally were.

So he started to crawl up them, trying to get into a rhythm of shuffling and climbing. It didn't work and he felt himself landing at the bottom again with a small thump. It hadn't hurt, seeing as he'd only managed to get up to the second step, but it shocked him, and his infant side was complaining. He even tried to hold his breath to stop crying, but he couldn't hold it in and started to snuffle at first, but once he'd started he couldn't stop, and started to cry louder, drawing Gibbs to the bottom of the stairs,

"Let me guess, you wanted to nose around my house and fell down doing so?" He asked, sounding almost amused as he picked Tony up, bouncing him up and down. Tony quietened, but still continued to cry, until Gibbs got out the dummy from his pocket (He'd taken it out of the wrapper after unpacking, just in case) and coaxed Tony into opening his mouth. Sliding it in, he was relieved that the baby stopped and started to suck it, almost desperately.

Gibbs rolled his eyes and said,

"If I put you down will you promise not to put dents in my floors?" He got a nod and smiled, "I'm going to make dinner," He concluded, "If you go in the other room you'll find something to keep you occupied." He set him down, and after a quick hand through his hair he walk off. Tony toddled through the rooms, wondering what the something was. He finally found it in the living room. Gibbs had out everything he'd bought or Kate had bought in there, arranging it neatly so that it looked like it could be on an advert for a child's nursery.

He decided to crawl over, it being much faster than walking. He stopped in the middle of the toys and gazed about in wonderment, infant side taking over completely as he looked through the toys. He picked up a small stuffed toy, apparently a frog, and he fell in love with it. It was bright green, with bulging eyes and a red line for a mouth. Any normal child would be quite afraid of it honestly, but Tony loved it. He also found a book that had plastic pages that, when pressed, made sounds that went with the pictures. He was completely immersed, and hadn't realised that Gibbs had walked into the room, watching him fondly from the doorway,

"Dinner's ready Tony." He said softly, making the baby jump and whirl around, grinning at him, still completely babyfied,

"Look! Fog!" He exclaimed, showing the frog to Gibbs, who smiled indulgently, knowing that Tony was probably fighting to regain control,

"It's f-R-og Tony." He said, and saw the baby now blushed slightly and stuttered,

"I know, I said frog." Gibbs simply rolled his eyes and took him to the dinner table, putting him in the high chair he'd been in at NCIS. He sniffed and smiled as a delightful aroma passed in from the kitchen. Tying a bib around Tony's neck, Gibbs said,

"It's just spaghetti bolognaise. The proper kind, not the crap in that jar." Tony nodded and kicked his legs slightly, trying to portray just how hungry he was. He soon had food put in front of him and said,

"Can I feed myself?"

"I gotta eat too kiddo." Gibbs replied, and handed him a plastic fork while he sat down for his own. He was glad he'd put that bib on Tony, who was dropping the spag bol everywhere, and was rarely getting it in his mouth.

"Just leave it Tony," Gibbs said wearily, "I'll feed you when I'm done." Tony nodded, blinking hard. He didn't want to disappoint Gibbs, but here he was, not able to eat his own dinner,

"Hey!" A shout brought his head back up, looking over at Gibbs, "Don't mope DiNozzo, it doesn't matter. I said, I'll feed you when I'm done." Tony nodded again, and looked down at his hands. However, when Gibbs was almost done, his stomach gurgled hungrily. Of course, the only logical thing to do at the time seemed to be to take the whole bowl and stick it on his head. Why? He wasn't sure, but his hands were moving faster than his brain and soon he had a bowl full of spag bol in his hair, and dripping down the sides of the high chair.

Before he could help it, he was giggling, sucking his fingers and kicking his legs out. He soon froze however, as Gibbs slowly stood up and walked around. He gulped. Now he was going to get it. And he couldn't help it, he genuinely didn't have any control over it.

"Erm... boss, I..." He stopped as Gibbs picked him up by the armpits, like McGee had, and slowly wiped the worst of it out of his hair. Without a word, he walked to the bathroom, where he's already drawn a bath,as he was going to bathe Tony after dinner anyway. Sitting him down, Gibbs quickly and methodically removed the baby's clothes, and stuck him in the bath, using the shampoo he'd bought that day to clean his hair.

Tony just sat there, shell shocked. His boss had already shown that he hadn't cared when changing diapers, but a whole bath Tony had assumed to be... different, somehow. He couldn't help noticing how soft Gibbs' hands were, and how gentle he was being. He careful lathered Tony's hair, making sure he got every bit, and one hand never left Tony's back, in case the baby fell backwards.

Soon he was completely clean, and was quickly dried, it was a cold night. Gibbs waited until he'd put a fresh diaper on the baby (At which Tony still blushed throughout) and had stuck him in one of those sleepers that Kate and Abby had talked about (It was cream with a picture of a sheep on it) to talk,

"Tony...why? Why would you throw your dinner all over you? Angry you couldn't feed yourself?" Tony shook his head quickly, and said,

"No! I don't... I don't know why I did it. I could see myself doing it, but I still... couldn't stop. And it seemed like the logical thing to do at the time..." He blushed, knowing how stupid he sounded. However, Gibbs looked thoughtful for a second and muttered,

"I'll have to baby proof the house."

"You don't need to Boss, I'll be fine, it's just... occasional lapses." Gibbs snorted and replied,

"No arguments Tony. Right, I think it's time you went to bed, you look like crap."

"Gee thanks." Gibbs rolled his eyes and started up the stairs, saying as he did,

"I got some old stuff out the loft, crib and whatnot. Put it in the spare room." Tony looked puzzled for a minute,

"Why do you have a crib?"

"It's what comes of having over-excitable ex-wives." Tony giggled and allowed himself to be placed in the crib. It was beautifully crafted, plain wood and a white sheet. Obviously whoever bought this hadn't known what gender they'd wanted. The other items looked the same, completely gender non-specific.

"I'll be downstairs. Holler if you need something." He turned the light off and went to go, before he heard a small voice quickly ask,

"Can I have a drink?" Gibbs almost slapped himself. The kid had tipped his dinner down himself, he'd still be hungry, but didn't want to ask for more food. What could he give him that might fill him up as well as quench his thirst? Going downstairs, he got out the bottle that Kate had given him. Filling it with milk, he heated it up slightly and tested it on his finger to check it wouldn't burn Tony. Having done so, he headed back, seeing the kid was stood up and clutching the bars, cocking his head as Gibbs entered the room,

"Here ya go kid." He said, passing it to him. However, Tony looked down at the bottle and asked, incredibly shyly,

"Will you feed me it please?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. He got Tony out of the crib and sat down on a chair in the room. It was like a blast from the past. This small toddler was softly clutching at his sleeve as he fed it, loving the quietness of it all. All you could hear was both their breathing and Tony's sucking, which was in no way an unpleasant sound. Finally, it was gone, and Gibbs gently lowered him back into the crib.

"Night night kiddo." Gibbs murmured, and left the room, making sure the nightlight was switched on.

**Wow, you're lucky you're getting this tonight, my keyboard's dying on me :0 Ah well, least I wrote it ^^ Review? xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and whatnot, I love you all :P Oh yeah, apparently I confused a few of you with my British terms :S Sorry about that, it just comes naturally when I'm typing, though it mingles with American idioms (That's the right word isn't it?). If you don't understand anything I say, don't hesitate to tell me :D**

Tony rolled over, groaning slightly as he realized he was completely awake, there'd be no hope of him dozing. He decided to just stand up, which he managed much better than yesterday, but still gripped the sides of the crib for support. Doing this, he flushed a bright red colour that could have rivalled his dad's when he'd been angry. It was only when he stood up, that he realized something that made him want to throw up. Sometime during the night, he'd used his diaper again. Of course, he knew he'd have used it again before all this was over, but the worst thing was, he'd completely forgot about the different kinds of using diapers. He shuddered as a horrible smell wafted by his nostrils. It made him whimper in disgust, self-pity and a bit of self-loathing.

There was no way he'd sit down now, and just wait patiently for Gibbs to come. Whatever he felt about being changed by his boss, he _desperately _wanted this one off. _Now_. The only problem was, his voice was quite quiet now, so he'd have to rely on the awesome power of his lungs. Taking a breath, he was pleased to find that it wasn't hard to suddenly start wailing, letting out a piercing shriek and starting to sob as loudly as possible.

It didn't take Gibbs long to come into the room, already dressed and Tony was sure he could smell coffee on him already. It mustn't be as early as he thought it was. As soon as Gibbs came into the room, he knew what was wrong. He didn't want to say it outwardly and embarrass DiNozzo more than he already was, so he just walked over to the crib to pick him up. Tony had already held his arms up in anticipation, waiting to be taken away from the crib, which he hated being in, it was so restricting, he felt like he was in a prison.

"Come on you, I assume you want this off?" Tony nodded mournfully, still red and crying loudly. Gibbs walked over to a small changing table in the corner of the room, that had been previously unnoticed by Tony. He was laid down and immediately got the sleeping suit off him, as well as the diaper, and Gibbs just got on with it, like before, not showing any sign of being embarrassed. Even though he felt like he'd never be able to speak in front of his boss again, he had to ask,

"Hey Boss? Why don't you... you know, care? About the whole... changing thing?" Gibbs shrugged slightly, still focused on what he was doing,

"When I look at you right now DiNozzo, I don't see my Senior field agent, I see baby Tony," He paused to enjoy Tony's squirming, "So there's nothing to embarrassed about, it's just another baby, like any other." He finished both his speech and changing Tony, and sat him up, asking,

"Do you want to pick out what to wear today?" Tony nodded with hesitation, and was put on the floor while Gibbs pulled the curtains across so there was light in the room,

"What time is it?" Tony asked, crawling over to a small pile of clothes that Gibbs had yet to put away,

"It's about half 7. I'm impressed DiNozzo, I've never come across a baby at this age who sleeps through the night."

"It's all to do with routine Boss, like I said, my mother liked routine." Gibbs nodded and waited for Tony to finally pull something out the pile. He examined it for a moment before looking up at Gibbs shyly and asking,

"Will you help me put it on?" Gibbs nodded and crouched down, helping Tony to put the top on, which he soon saw was white with a bright picture of Elmo on it. He'd chosen some jeans that could pass as adults if they hadn't been so small, that Gibbs also stuck on him.

"You ready?" Tony looked up at him suspiciously and asked,

"What for?" Gibbs grinned in an almost evil way and answered,

"'Cause the Director called me in and insisted I bring him up to speed with our case. He said he didn't care if I was looking after my 'nephew', he wants me in."

"Oh," Was all that Tony answered, deflating slightly, before asking, "Can I come?" Gibbs shook his head before he replied,

"No can do Tony, I'm leaving you here. But, you're in the care of good ol' uncle Ducky, and your favourite aunts Kate and Abby." Tony closed his eyes and whispered,

"Please don't tell me there's an Uncle McGee in there somewhere." Gibbs chuckled and smiled,

"You won't see until you get your diapered but downstairs." Tony nodded and started to crawl towards the door, before being swept up by Gibbs,

"I didn't mean for you yourself to go down there DiNozzo." He said, and started to walk down the stairs.

--

"Hi Tony!" Abby yelled, and scuttled over to where her boss was stood, holding a baby who looked like he'd been taken care of, so she stopped narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Gibbs and started to make funny faces at Tony, completely forgetting he still had his adult mind. Sometimes. Right now he was completely in love with her faces, and started gurgling happily at them, giggling and waving his small fists about. Gibbs rolled his eyes and stuck Tony in Kate's arms, saying,

"I'm going to go now, don't know what time I'll be back, there's a list of things I've got for him on the counter, if for some reason I'm not back by then, put him to bed at 7, and down for naps at 10 and 2." No-one questioned his orders and they watched as he went to walk out, stopping briefly by Ducky to mutter,

"Look after him." Then he was gone, and they all looked around for a moment, before Tony sobered up from Abby's faces and exhaled in relief,

"Thank God there isn't an Uncle McGee." He hadn't realised that everyone had no idea what he was talking about, so ignored their confused faces and said,

"Is there any food Duck? I haven't eaten anything yet." Ducky looked for the list on the counter and quickly swiped it up, reading it, his eyes darting across the small note and said,

"Well, how does porridge sound?" **(A/N, that's oatmeal in American terms right? Or is that a completely different thing?) **Tony's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. Usually, he never ate porridge, but today he was really in the mood for it.

While Ducky was making it, Tony looked up at Kate, who was gazing around Gibbs' kitchen with interested eyes, she'd never seen this much of his house before,

"Hey Kate?" She looked down to the baby, who was giving her his best puppy dog eyes, "Do you want to see what Gibbs gave me last night?" She shrugged and agreed. It was weird having Tony as... well, innocent as he was right now,

"It was all in the front room." He said, pointing towards a wall in an attempt to navigate,

"Tony I have no idea where that is." She said, tutting as if putting him down as she had before all this,

"Let him show us," Abby volunteered, "Let us see how strong his legs are." He grinned at her as he was set down on the floor and said,

"Baby, my legs are the strongest in the West." Abby giggled and challenged him to a race, at which he started to go before she'd said 'Go'. They both shrieked and giggled as he started to run, suddenly becoming extremely confident on his feet. Abby walked after him, letting him win.

"So what are we looking at my little whippet?" She asked, back on the dog nicknames. He rolled his eyes at her but pointed at a toy he hadn't used last night and asked,

"What's this?" Abby examined it and her eyes lit up,

"Oh wow, cool! It's one of those mats that when you step on the footprints, it makes a noise!" Tony giggled and said to her,

"I could so annoy Gibbs with this." With that he stood on it, at small note flowing out of it, the lower he was down on the mat the lower the pitch of the note. Abby couldn't resist his giggling and joined in, taking off her platforms so she didn't break it. Kate stood by the door, watching, smiling as Tony fell over once or twice but always got back up, smiling happily,

"It's quite a nice sight isn't it?" Duck had appeared behind her, and smiled as she nodded,

"I never thought I'd ever admit that I thought Tony was cute, but I just can't help it. Look at him." Ducky smiled softly, and replied,

"The porridge is getting cold." She nodded and shouted over,

"Tony, Abby, the food's getting cold." They both got up from where they had been sitting on the floor and came towards her, some more slowly than others. Kate just rolled her eyes ans Tony stumbled and fell against her leg, trying to regain his balance. She picked him up and bore him to the kitchen, sitting him in the high chair. She had put the porridge in front of him and looked at him, waiting for him to start.

"What?" She asked, when he just stared back. He immediately blushed and shook his head,

"I thought... doesn't matter, I just..." He tailed off and Abby bounded in front of Kate and asked softly, so the other didn't really hear,

"Bet Gibbs feeds you, huh?" He nodded, and looked down, hoping he didn't seem needy and rude, but for some reason it felt important to him that someone fed him. Abby smiled a dazzling smile, she was so excited. She picked up the spoon and slid it in his mouth, making occasional train and aeroplane noises and 'Yum yum's. Tony giggled at these, but was soon engrossed, only opening his mouth when she did it. He was soon finished, and Kate lifted him out, after a quick wipe of his face,

"Some things never change, do they DiNozzo? Still a sloppy eater." He stuck his tongue out at her but became absorbed in the sparkly thing she had around her neck. He kept reaching out, trying to grab it. She didn't really understand what he wanted, and looked at Abby for help. She was smiling so much Kate thought her face would crack in half,

"Let him play with your necklace." She whispered, and Kate, still looking bemused, unhooked it from her neck and handed it to him, scared that he would try and swallow it. However, he was extremely careful with it, much more careful than a normal child, and Abby was sure he wasn't exactly in control at the moment. He fingered it carefully, and tried to open the clutch. It was a silver locket, the sparkling as it hit the light had caught Tony's attention. He simply kept moving it, trying to make it sparkle again. When that failed, he started to whine slightly, fidgeting and losing his interest in it,

"I think we should get his attention back," Abby murmured, "Gibbs would kill us if he did something that hurt him while he was bored." Kate shrugged and took him back to the front room, carefully taking her locket back and putting it in her pocket.

Abby went and sat next to Ducky, who was sat at the table reading the newspaper,

"Hey Duck?" Ducky looked up to see Abby with a rather distressed face,

"Whatever's the matter Abigail?" She looked into his eyes and said,

"What if I can't find an antidote Ducky? What if Tony's stuck like that for the rest of his life? Or what if I can't even find someone who can make the antidote? He loves his job too much for that, and he's a really good agent, so what if..."

"Take a deep breath my dear, and relax," Ducky interrupted, "I have no doubts that you'll find someone who can make it, or make it yourself. Even if you can't I know of at least two people who wouldn't care." Abby's eyebrows flew up,

"Jethro and Anthony wouldn't mind that much, I think," Ducky said, in answer to her un-asked question, "The childless father, and the fatherless child. They need each other in a way, and I think this would do them both good." Abby looked at him with wide eyes and he hastily added,

"Don't tell Jethro how sentimental I'm being about this please, he would deny it, but he forgets I know him inside out." Abby nodded, and after thinking about it for a while, she knew he was right. Gibbs and Tony needed each other. Gibbs needed someone to love, and to be loved back, unconditionally, and Tony needed some love, without the horrors of his last childhood. No sudden mood swings from being drunk, a hug one second, a slap the next. She decided there and then to both double her efforts in finding an antidote, and to make Gibbs understand just how much love and support Tony needed. Not wanted, but needed.

**Review? Oh yeah, I've got a poll on my profile about a new story, so if you wouldn't mind... ;) Cheers m'dears, and OMG, did anyone watch dancing on ice? Ok, I know it was last week, but how cute is Ray? He so deserved to win bless him :P Anywho, review? Again? Lol xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hiya ;) Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ And for all your advice and wisdom :D I've definitely said exactly that before, but what the hey :P**

Gibbs yawned. He'd been sat there in that room for about two hours now. He'd only come because the Director said he had something to say to him, but Gibbs had to come listen to his lecture before it. He didn't bother even pretending to pay attention, and was getting shot black looks off various people in the room who had to listen.

"Any questions?" Thank god. It was finally over. There was a small mutter around the room, and Director Morrow nodded, as if he understood what they'd said,

"You can go, have a good weekend. What's left of it anyway." As the agents began to file out, Gibbs stood up and stretched his aching legs. He walked over to the Director and said,

"Is there a reason you made me sit through that?" The Director shrugged and answered,

"I didn't want to be the only person who's heard it before to listen to it again." Gibbs rolled his eyebrows and said,

"With all due respect Sir, this had better be important, I..."

"I'm well aware of the fact you have a baby at home Gibbs," Morrow interrupted smoothly, "But I have it on good intelligence he is perfectly capable of looking after himself." GIbbs looked up in surprise. How did Morrow know that that kid was DiNozzo? The Director smiled and said, with a twinkle in his eye,

"I wasn't born yesterday Gibbs, and we both know that Agent DiNozzo would never go home for a 'family emergency'. I've read his file as well. And talked to his friend downstairs."

"Abby." Gibbs growled, which made Morrow smile and retort,

"Yes, she let it slip when we were bowling," Gibbs raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, "At first I thought she'd gone mad, it wouldn't be that hard to make someone in your team go mad Gibbs. But then Doctor Mallard confirmed this and... well, I couldn't quite believe my ears. Then I got to thinking. I have a nephew who's married to a micro biologist. Abby told me who did this, and I've heard Melissa, my nephew's wife, mention him once or twice. I could speak to her if you like, see what she can do?"

Gibbs blinked and smiled, a genuine warm smile,

"If you could do Director, that'd be good," He paused and looked at Morrow, who was still stood there calmly, "You're not... freaked out at all? Made a few of us do double takes." Morrow smiled and said,

"Gibbs, when you've been at NCIS as long as I have, everything fails to surprise you." Gibbs nodded and turned to leave, when Morrow called him back,

"Oh and Gibbs? About the case you're working on now... the dead marine in the woods, I hear you've got a suspect?" Gibbs nodded,

"The victim's roommate, he doesn't have an alibi for the night Ducky estimated the death at and apparently the last night he saw him, they'd had a huge argument." Morrow was nodding and said,

"I did a little digging, Agent Todd mentioned his name, Arthur Lacey? If you wanted to... go under cover and see more about him, he takes his little nephew swimming on Sundays. So tomorrow, if you wanted to go for a paddle? Here's the address of the pool." He handed it to Gibbs, who knew he wasn't being given the option. He sighed and nodded. Getting a small pat on the back as he went out, Morrow called after him,

"Enjoy it while it lasts Gibbs, they're cute at that age."

--

Gibbs came back to find an extremely quiet house. He raised his eyebrows and cautiously crept down the hall, turning to where he guessed they'd all be, and found he was right. In his living room,

Ducky was sat in an armchair reading a book that Gibbs didn't recognize. Kate and Abby were both sat on the sofa, heads bobbing as they tried to stay awake in their warm, comfortable positions, and sat between them was Tony, already asleep and sucking his thumb.

"'...then he tried to find his way across the garden...', Ah, Jethro!" Ducky's greeting made Abby and Kate jump up suddenly, though not enough to wake Tony up,

"Gibbs! How was your meeting?" Abby asked, standing up so there was no danger of her falling asleep again,

"Interesting Abbs, especially since we mainly talked about how the hell he knew about Tony." Kate glanced over at Abby, who stood up straight and looked Gibbs straight in the eyes,

"I thought it would be a good idea Gibbs! Now if none of us could baby-sit, he could!"

"He could have baby-sat without knowing." Kate chipped in, slightly annoyed that Abby hadn't told any of them she'd told Director Morrow. Gibbs didn't want this to turn into a huge argument between his team, so he held up a hand and immediately both women looked at him,

"It's not a big deal, he even said he'd help get him back to normal," Gibbs said, motioning over towards the baby who had now curled up on the sofa, having gained more room, "He said his nephew is married to someone who deals with tablets and stuff like this, he's going to speak to her." They nodded and Ducky got up from his chair,

"Well Jethro, we'd better get off back, I'm sure Mr Palmer is quite possibly lost in the paperwork I gave him before coming here." Gibbs shook his head,

"Stay Duck, I'm not going to eat lunch on my own." He looked round, indicating that he wanted Kate and Abby to stay as well, which they both smiled at. There was a moment of silence before they heard Tony yawn and sit up. Immediately, Abby rushed over, cooing and stroking his hair. She softly lifted him up and gave him a cuddle,

"How was your sleep?" He gave her a sleepy smile and looked over to where Gibbs was stood,

"Boss! I thought you had a meeting?" Gibbs merely shrugged his shoulders and said,

"Have you had anything to eat?"

"Ducky made me porridge." Gibbs nodded his thanks to the ME, who inclined his head back and said to Tony,

"Well young man, you left us half way through this book, what say we return?" Tony nodded eagerly, toddling over to Gibbs (Abby had put him down at this point) and grabbing hold of his trouser leg,

"D'you want to listen? It's a good story." Gibbs chuckled and asked,

"Depends what it is DiNozzo." Ducky held up a slightly battered book and said,

"'The Tale of Peter Rabbit', by Beatrix Potter, the original, published in 1902, my mother's very fond of these stories. Why, I remember once..."

"Hey Duck, we're all waiting, how about starting?" Tony grinned as Ducky opened the book and started from the beginning again, but no one argued. Soon, he was finished and a rather sleepy Kate asked Abby if she wanted to help her start making dinner. They crept out, as did Ducky, who wanted to do the crossword in the paper he'd left in the kitchen. No one disturbed the host, who had fallen asleep on the chair he'd been sat on, with Tony sat on his lap.

--

Gibbs stirred when the lights were put on in the room he was in,

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, dinner's ready." Abby's bubbly voice bounced into the room, along with herself. She gently shook his shoulders, and he sat up slowly, but was on high alert when he realised Tony wasn't on his lap,

"Where's Tony?" He all but yelped, and jumped up, making Abby giggle and take his hand, bounding back to the kitchen,

"We didn't want him falling asleep 'cause we guessed he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, plus, he needed changing, and we didn't think you would want it on your lap until you woke up." She smiled at him, but turned round and her lips scrunched up as she thought,

"Gibbs..." She rolled out, hesitantly, "Have you said something to him about it? 'Cause he didn't blush like, at all, and it was Kate doing it! He just kept talking to me like it wasn't happening!" Gibbs shrugged, but felt he could tell Abby, even if she did tell the Director,

"He was really embarrassed, so I told him I didn't see him, all I saw was a little baby."

"You lied, huh?"

"Oh yeah." She grinned and bore him away to the kitchen.

--

Dinner had been quite enjoyable. Gibbs was mainly happy that DiNozzo hadn't decided to shove it all on his head again. He'd kept them all entertained at any rate, with some stories about what he'd done that day, mainly with Abby and behind Kate and Ducky's backs. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Everyone turned to Gibbs, wondering if he was expecting anyone. By the calm look on his face and the laid-back expression, he obviously was, and the chatter resumed, as if it had been paused for a second.

Gibbs got up and went to the door. Opening it, he gave a slight smile and said,

"Thanks McGee. Here, come on in, everyone else is." McGee looked slightly stunned but nodded, after passing Gibbs a plastic bag. He went into the kitchen and was given a warm welcome, issued with a plate, and told to sit down. He guessed it was something to do with Tony's presence. Gibbs was so relaxed and at ease, he was almost nice, which in any other circumstances Tony would moan about, but he seemed extremely happy with himself. Also, the others were being nice because Gibbs was being nice, and they were just kept in a melted state thanks to how Tony interacted with them.

He kept all his thoughts to himself, and only spoke when he was spoken to, which by this point was questions about the bag Gibbs carried through,

"Is that what Timmy brought round?" Abby asked, a sparkle in her eye. Gibbs nodded and, after a quick glance at Tony, he replied,

"Swimming trunks suitable for toddlers, also arm-bands **(A/N, I think Americans call these water wings? :P)**so he doesn't die," Abby flinched at this, making Gibbs snort and say, "Abbs, I'm not likely to let him die, it's too much paperwork."

Although the conversation was definitely interesting, Tony couldn't help but let out a yawn. At once everyone was looking over as Gibbs walked over and picked him up, saying,

"Least you don't need cleaning up this time, huh DiNozzo?" Tony blushed and tried to shush his boss but the damage was done. His colleagues looked up and Kate, trying to stifle her giggles but failing, asked,

"What does he mean Tony? What happened last time?" Tony didn't say anything, and Gibbs answered, chuckling,

"He stuck his bowl over his head 'cause he was angry that he couldn't feed himself." The room exploded with laughter, Kate and Abby falling against each other with tears in their eyes, McGee was hysterical and even Ducky was laughing. Tony sat in a stony silence, with his arms folded.

"I didn't do it because of that!" He sounded so adamant they just started laughing again. He fell against Gibbs and just started crying. The frustration of it all and the fact that he was tired just made him sob pathetically in Gibbs' arms. At once Gibbs left the room, glaring at everyone as if it was their fault, causing them to talk amongst themselves while he was going upstairs,

"Why is he taking Tony swimming McGee?" Kate asked, intrigued,

"He said something about going undercover, our suspect apparently takes his nephew swimming on Sundays, so I think Gibbs is going along. You know, acting the parent so he doesn't look suspicious, and so he can learn more about him." They all nodded, and Ducky took a breath before saying,

"Well, it's been a fun day my girls," He said, tipping his hat at Kate and Abby, "But I'd best be off, would I be of assistance to either of you going home?" Abby giggled and said,

"Such a gentlemen." And took his arm to go out the door,

"Tell Gibbs it was nice Kate, I might come tomorrow to see Tony." Abby called to Kate, who was putting her jacket on,

"Well actually, I was about to leave as well..." Abby's pleading look won her over and she sat back at the table with a sigh, "I suppose I could wait a few more minutes." Abby grinned,

"Thanks Kate, I owe you!" Before she was out the door with Ducky. McGee hastily followed, and Kate was left listening to the slight drip from the tap into the kitchen sink and the muffled sounds of a baby going to bed upstairs.

--

"Aw c'mon Tony, there's no need to cry about it." Gibbs tried feebly, as Tony was still crying, albeit less than he had downstairs, but it was still crying,

"You...sh-shouldn't h...have t-told them!" He wailed, and Gibbs started to pat his back and bounce him up and down. There was a slight creak as he sat down on the wicker chair in the room and rested against it, letting Tony lean against him,

"I'm sorry Tony, really. I shouldn't have said it." Hearing Gibbs, _Gibbs _say this was incredible, he never apologised,

"I thought saying sorry was a sign of weakness Boss?" He asked shrewdly, now not crying, but with tears still stuck to his eyelashes. Gibbs couldn't help but chuckle at this, although in different circumstances he'd have head slapped him.

"Go to sleep Tony." He ordered, in a soft voice, laying the baby down in the cot. He tucked him up and quickly kissed his forehead, before hurrying out the room. He rested against the wall and said to himself,

"You're turning soft Jethro."

"You're telling me," Kate said, from where she was stood at the bottom of the stairs, "Abby said that she might be round tomorrow to see Tony, and that she's had a good time." She added, relaying the message from the lab tech. Gibbs nodded and asked,

"You want to come swimming tomorrow Kate?" The agent thought about it for a minute before saying,

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do. And I can profile the suspect while I'm at it, right?" Gibbs inclined his head and gave her a small salute as she waved and walked out the door. Behind him, he could hear the slow, regular sounds of breathing and let out a breath himself. He was definitely turning soft.

**Woah, I have such an urge to play on Spyro lol :P Review? xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Enormous thanks to every single one of you who has reviewed or messaged me ^^ Big kisses to you all :P **

Abby's phone was ringing. She'd just finished putting her hair up, about to start on her make-up when the phone started. Reaching over, she opened it and answered,

"Hey?"

_"Hey Abby, it's Kate. I was just wondering if you wanted to come swimming with us? It's just, Gibbs invited me, and I really don't want to be on my own, in a swimming pool with Gibbs and Tony." _Abby laughed, and answered,

"I understand why Kate. Cool, I'll come, lemme just switch to waterproof mascara. I guess I'll be keeping Tony occupied as you and Gibbs grill the suspect?"

_"Hardly - we have to keep a low profile apparently, so we need to appear like a... well, family I suppose." _Abby grinned and asked,

"What time should we go over to Bossman's?" She could almost hear Kate shrugging,

_"I don't know, he just said to come round in the morning."_

"I bet your suspect'll be in there really early. The local swimming pool, it's got this offer thing called 'Earlybirds', and kids get in for free if you get there before nine." Kate sighed, she'd only just gotten dressed and started to make her breakfast.

_"Want me to come and get you? You're on my way to Gibbs' anyway." _Abby agreed and Kate put the phone down.

--

Driving to Gibbs', Abby asked,

"I thought the roommate called the police, why is he a suspect?"

"Arthur Lacey has no alibi, a motive, they had a fight before the petty officer we found left, and that was the last he saw of him." Abby furrowed her eyebrows,

"But why would he call the police if he killed him?" Kate shrugged, pulling up to the kerb outside Gibbs' house,

"Maybe he didn't want to be suspected? Anyway, I'm sure your tests'll find whether he is or not." Abby beamed as the conversation turned to her beloved forensics, if only for a second. She bounded up the front path and knocked on the door, holding a carrier bag that had a towel and her swimming costume in it. Kate came up the path as well, clutching her own bag that had these things, as well as a gun.

Soon, the front door opened, and Gibbs grimaced at them, holding Tony in one arm, who was still in his sleeping suit,

"When I said 'morning' Kate, I didn't mean this early. I haven't even had coffee yet. Plus, I was sat up most of the night with him." Kate raised an eyebrow, but as neither male elaborated on that statement, she simply replied,

"Abby said it would be more likely for him to be there before nine, they have an offer that children go free." Gibbs nodded and stood aside so they could come in. He glanced at the lab tech and asked,

"You here for the ride Abbs?" She grinned at him and answered,

"I wanted to see Tony, and I haven't been swimming in ages. Plus, I thought, if you had to act like a family, I would fit in perfectly with the dynamic. Y'know, the older sister who people don't quite understand, and think maybe she's going through a stage..."

"I get it Abbs." Gibbs groaned. God he needed caffeine. Abby smiled and added,

"I thought, if you got the chance to talk to Lacey at all, you'd need fake names, so I made some this morning. What?" She asked, as Gibbs Kate and Tony all looked at her, with curious expressions on their faces, "I was up from six, I had way to much sugar, and felt like making you some new characters. I even gave you all backgrounds."

"How about you just tell us the names Abbs?" Gibbs asked, knowing he was probably going to explode when Tony tried to shuffle away from him. He stuck him on the kitchen bench and quickly ruffled the baby's hair before putting the kettle on,

"Right. I thought Kate, would like the name Elizabeth, obviously Liz for short," She looked to Kate for approval, who smiled, "And I thought for you Boss, what about Edward?" Gibbs looked round in disgust, to which Abby hastily defended, "Too late Gibbs, I already made the ID!"

"This is a lot of work for just one undercover case that might not even be with a guilty man." Tony remarked, having been listening from where Gibbs had moved him to the high chair, happily drinking orange juice from a sippy-cup. Abby smiled and said,

"Ok, so maybe I under-exaggerated the amount of sugar I had, but he can't know your real names! If he is the man who killed Petty Officer Green, he might have links to the mafia. How do I know this?" She asked, seeing their shocked faces, "There are a number of killings that have exactly the same MO, and they all somehow trace back to a couple of the mob's well known associates. This Arthur Lacey would be hard-core if he is involved Gibbs. You have to be careful."

"I'm always careful Abby." Gibbs replied, to which Tony pointed out,

"What about last night when you dropped that sander on your foot when you were trying to make sure I didn't fall off your boat?" Before Gibbs could say anything, Abby intervened, for which Gibbs wasn't sure whether or not it was just so he didn't have to answer the quip brewing in Kate's mind.

"Why were you sat on his boat last night Tony? You _should _have been asleep." He shrugged and answered,

"Couldn't sleep." That was all they could get out of him, so Kate just shrugged to Abby and left it, deciding wisely to change the subject,

"Are you two ready then?" She asked Gibbs, "It's eight now, Lacey will want to avoid crowds, so he'll go early, but earlier still than he would have done anyway." Gibbs motioned towards Tony, who had a huge orange juice stain down his sleeping suit and asked sarcastically,

"Do we _look _ready to you, Agent Todd?" She didn't answer, and waited for Tony to helpfully drop the cup that was now empty, allowing Gibbs' attention to jump to Tony. _Thankyou _she mouthed at him, and he was about to mouth something back, but Gibbs had already picked him up, and was heading for upstairs,

"We'll meet you out front in five minutes." He yelled down to them.

--

Driving to the swimming pool, Tony and Kate arguing in the back, Abby asked Gibbs quietly,

"Why were you up all night with him?" Gibbs kept his face neutral and trained on the road but answered,

"He woke up around 11 and asked for a drink, then he said he had a nightmare. Wouldn't even attempt to go back to sleep." Abby frowned. It was horrible when you couldn't help someone when whatever was disturbing them was inside their heads.

"Did he tell you what it was about?"

"A few things," Gibbs said, "The petty officer's body, normal childish things, monsters under the bed, his father..." Abby sighed and didn't say anything else until they were getting out the car,

"So Gibbs, are you gonna use my names?" She sparked up, eyes glittering,

"Abbs, if for some bizarre reason I need to tell Lacey my name, it'll be Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But," He added, seeing the look on her face, frightened for him, "If you're serious about this whole 'family dynamic' crap, then you can change your last name to Gibbs." She grinned,

"That sounds so cool! Abby Gibbs. Hey, did you notice I have two 'B's in both my first name and my last name? Kate Gibbs, I think that sounds kinda cool." She said, looking at Kate. Tony snorted and said,

"Boss, are you sure he'd believe you were married to Kate?" Gibbs ground his teeth, already sick of the whole idea. Tony wisely decided not to pursue it and stayed silent, clutching Abby's trousers as he toddled with them, Gibbs holding his bag.

--

"Eurgh, I should have just bought a new swimsuit, I look like a hippo." Kate moaned in the changing rooms.

"Relax kate, hippos aren't red, Bert is living proof of this." Abby soothed her, standing next to her in front of a mirror in her swimsuit. Kate's was just a plain red colour, whereas Abby's was black with purple spiderwebs on it.

"And just think," Abby added as they made their way towards the pool, "I really doubt that Tony, even in a small body, will think the same." Kate grimaced but had to laugh. She was sure Tony was more likely to perve on Abby, but didn't say anything, and followed the goth to the pool.

"Hm, they're not here yet." Abby said, glancing around,

"Yes they are Abbs, look, right there." Kate said, pointing to a tall man and a small boy in the little kid's pool,

"No, not Lacey Kate, I mean Gibbs and Tony. Whenever I've been swimming, it's _always _the guys who're ready first. What's taking them so long?" Kate glanced over to the suspect, and sighed,

"Well we can't go in that pool without them. Let's just swim for a while, it'll do your nerves good Abbs." Kate advised, and soon they were both swimming up and down the normal pool, wondering where Gibbs and Tony were.

--

"I don't know Boss, I really prefer my boxer shorts for swimming." Gibbs rolled his eyes. They were the only ones in the changing room and Tony could talk freely,

"Yeah well Tony I don't think you'd be very happy if you had an accident in those." The toddler swimsuit was specially made to act like a diaper, but on the inside, so none of the pool water would absorb into it. They were a bright blue colour, with cartoon fish on the borders,

"These are so clearly Probie's taste," Tony whined, and shrank back as he saw Gibbs coming towards him with the arm bands, "C'mon Boss, please don't. They really chafe, and I've had bad experiences with them before." Gibbs snorted but left them off,

"Fine, but if Abby or Kate say you have to have them on, I'm not arguing." Tony deflated, knowing one of them (Probably Abby) would insist on the bands. Gibbs still held them as they made their way towards the pool. The entrance came out to the pool, where the normal sized one was. Flicking his eyes up and down, Gibbs didn't see either Kate or Abby, which didn't surprise him, as women _always _took longer. But he saw Lacey, just getting in the kid's pool.

"Alright Tony, let's go," He started to walk closer to the pool, but felt a pull at his legs. Looking down, he saw Tony whimpering slightly, staring at the pool with huge eyes, "What's wrong?" he asked, checking no one was looking at them as he bent down to look into Tony's eyes, which were glazed over with tears. The kid mumbled something that he couldn't quite hear,

"What was that Tony?" He whispered, running his fingers through the toddler's hair. The gesture calmed him, and he mumbled,

"Don't throw me in the pool." Gibbs raised his eyebrows, but decided now was not the time to attempt humor,

"Why would I do that DiNozzo?"

"'Cause I'm supposed to be really brave and a big boy and if I don't jump in I'll have disappointed you, and you'll throw me in." He said, clearly reciting something that was drummed into him once when going swimming with his family.

"Hey," Gibbs murmured, picking Tony up and taking him back to the changing rooms; they needed privacy, "Just because you don't want to jump in Tony, doesn't make you a coward. I know you're brave, but I don't expect you to jump in now. Hell, I wouldn't expect a kid of about 6 to jump in. I won't throw you in."

"Promise?" Tony asked weakly, this obviously meant a lot to him,

"I promise." Gibbs replied, and said, "Now, we're going to walk out of here and into the kid's pool and we're going to check Lacey out. Don't try and interrogate him, just study him, see if there's anything suspicious about him. Got it?"

"I got it Boss." Tony answered, now standing up straighter and not being so quiet now that it was more like work. He wouldn't let Gibbs down.

--

"Gibbs! There you are! What took you so long?" Abby asked, floating on her back and staring up at Gibbs and Tony. Gibbs looked down at Tony, but said,

"Argument over the arm bands Abbs." Abby's face became stern and she climbed out of the pool, Kate following suit,

"Tony, you need these on. If you drown, I'll be sad, Kate'll be sad, Gibbs'll be sad, McGee'll be sad, Ducky... did McGee choose those shorts?" She asked glancing down at the shorts on Tony's small body. He nodded and she tutted, but grabbed the arm bands from Gibbs' hands and started to roll them up his arms, her chest getting a bit too close for comfort for Gibbs' liking with Tony's face,

"I like your swimsuit Abbs." Tony said to her, causing Gibbs to give him a minuscule smack on the back of his head,

"Don't be cheeky," He admonished, and glanced over to the kid's pool, "Alright. Let's go." He added, and they went in.

--

Gibbs shuddered. He hated crowded swimming pools, and with kids squealing and splashing, it was quite easy to see why. Thankfully, Tony wasn't really a squealing, splashing kid, and he stayed quite close to Gibbs, who was just resting by the side, near the steps and nearer to Lacey. Abby stayed near as well, who, although she looked quite wistfully over at the pool floats, she kept Tony with her, bobbing him up and down in the water gently.

Kate meanwhile, had swum (Well, walked; the pool was tiny) nearer to Lacey, and could hear him bouncing his nephew up down, like Abby was doing to Tony, talking to him softly,

"Yes Davey, it'll all be fine just as soon as they stop looking. Then we'll be able to go out more, and when that happens, I'll show you the ropes, and if your parents don't like it, then... Can I help you?" He drawled, stopping when he realised how close Kate had become. She cursed herself, not intending for him to notice her. Thinking quickly, she said,

"Er..., sorry, didn't mean to intrude, but er... where do you get those pool toys from?" She asked, wincing at her lame question, but pointing at the toy in 'Davey's' hands. He glanced at her for a second before saying,

"You here with anyone?" She motioned over towards her 'family' and said,

"I've got a boy about your boy's age, I think, and I'm here with my...sister and... uncle," She thought it best to say 'Uncle' rather than 'Husband'. If she could maybe get involved with this man further, it might lead them to something, he was definitely suspicious, with what he said to his nephew,

"He's not my boy, he's my nephew," Lacey explained, "Though I wish he was! I'd have loved a kid, spoilt him rotten. Hey, does your kid go to nursery?" He asked, leering at her, but it wasn't really in a shuddery kind of way. It was almost interest. She shook her head and he smiled at her,

"How about you come to this one? It's free for a morning session, and the staff are so helpful, and friendly. They make loads of friends there as well." Kate snorted as she thought of Tony interacting with other toddlers. Maybe it would be good for him. In some way. So she smiled and said,

"That would be nice. I think we're going to get out the pool now," She said, glancing over to the other three. Abby and Tony were splashing each other gently, but Gibbs was looking over, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, "But if you meet me outside, I'll give you my number, and maybe we can go on the same day." He grinned at her and started to get out the pool. Kate immediately went over to Gibbs and muttered,

"He might be our guy Gibbs, he was telling his nephew that they'd get out more when 'they stop looking'. I might have made a date with him," She said, blushing, "But he suggested taking Tony to a nursery where he takes his nephew. I'm going to meet him outside and give him my phone number." Gibbs didn't look happy, and she guessed he was waiting until they got back to NCIS for him to shout, but he said nothing right now, and they all got out, and into their respective changing rooms.

--

"Wow Kate, look at you, going after a possible murderer!" Kate blushed as she sat in the back of Gibbs' car, the other three witnessing her giving Lacey her number, and name,

"I completely forgot to ask your name." He'd said, smiling at her,

"It's Kate," She replied, "Kate... Gibbs."

"Arthur Lacey." He introduced himself and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"He might not be the murderer Abbs," Kate said valiantly, but all three looked at her with pity. She'd relayed what he'd said to his nephew and they all thought he was guilty, "Well, he was very...charming." Tony snorted and said,

"_I'm _charming." She rolled her eyes but said nothing, and bit her lip as Gibbs sat in the front, not saying a word and glancing at both her and Tony every so often, as if afraid for them.

**Review? Nursery=Kindergarten :P Sorry there's barely any baby Tony swimming here, but the conversation kinda spiralled. And I promise there'll be more McGee and actual NCIS as time goes on ;) xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, I know the last chapter wasn't exactly Gibbs and Tony heavy, but here's a whole one of just them ^^ Oh yeah, the whole nursery thing. It's not like _actual _nursery if you get me. It's like a place parents can go and just relax while their kids play and meet other kids. As far as I'm concerned, there isn't an age limit ;P**

The car slowed to a halt outside Gibbs' house, and one by one they all got out, with Gibbs carefully taking Tony, who had fallen asleep without any of them noticing,

"Isn't it a bit early for him to have a nap Gibbs?" Abby asked, smiling at the sleeping baby. Gibbs shrugged, and merely offered,

"He didn't get much sleep last night." She left it, not wanting to probe deeper, sure Gibbs would do his own probing when Tony was awake. She dipped her head and said,

"Bye Gibbs, see you tomorrow?" He grunted in reply, aware that Tony was shaking slightly, the wind rustling around them in cold blasts. She offered her cheek and sure enough was granted a kiss, and off she bounced, towards her own car, getting in but waiting for Kate,

"Boss, I..."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Was what she got in reply, so she merely ducked her head and walked back to Abby's car. He must be really pissed. But she hadn't done anything wrong. If it wasn't for her, they'd never have gotten anywhere with this case. Gibbs breathed out slightly when Abby's car drove off, turning a corner, blocking it from view. He had his usual half-smile on his face as Tony shuffled closer to him, the breezes becoming more frequent.

"Let's get back inside, hey DiNozzo?" Gibbs muttered, and walked in, carefully shutting the door behind him. He went upstairs and put Tony in the crib, before backing out silently. How long would he have like this? How long would he be able to gently pull the covers over a baby, hearing their little breaths in and out? He fiercely loved having small children around, and Tony was no different. He smiled as he thought about what they would all say when he was better. The first day back, coming out of the elevator and into NCIS. Kate would have several snide remarks ready he was sure. And McGee... would McGee even respect Tony anymore? Gibbs wasn't daft. McGee looked up to Tony in the same way Tony looked up to him.

He realised he hadn't moved at all, just being stood there with his own thoughts. About to move, he was surprised when he heard slightly ragged breathing and a small,

"Gibbs?" The ex-marine crept into the room, slowly, and found Tony stood up at the crib, with tears sliding down his face. As soon as he saw the older man, his breathing hitched slightly, and he held his arms up quickly, hoping to be taken out of the crib and into Gibbs' comforting arms. As soon as he was he started to sob less, although he was sniffing slightly. Gibbs sighed as he took Tony downstairs and into the front room, sitting down on a chair,

"What was it this time?" Gibbs asked, careful to make his voice sound comforting rather than weary. Tony rubbed at his eyes and murmured,

"It was nothing, I just got... too hot."

"Like hell DiNozzo. Tell me." The order couldn't be ignored, but there was a hint of soothing in it, like he _could _just not bother, but it would be better if he did,

"It's just... a nightmare. That's it. All there is to it."

"Well this nightmare is stopping you sleeping, and if Abby sees those bags under your eyes, she's going to kill me. And talking about nightmares helps, so tell me."

"It's... it's stupid really. It's just the same as yesterday's... night's? Anyway, it's just... you'll laugh." Gibbs brought Tony's head up to look at him as he looked down in embarrassment,

"Tony, look at me. If I haven't laughed so far, why would I laugh at this?" Tony shrugged and said, in a very quiet voice,

"There's a monster in the cupboard." Gibbs' mouth did indeed twitch, entertained, but he kept his word and didn't laugh. Instead, he asked,

"How do you know?"

"There always is though, isn't there? My father always said so. He said if I got up in the night or whatever and wandered around the bedroom, the monster in my toy cupboard would get me." Gibbs snorted,

"That is pure BS Tony, and you know how I know?" Tony looked up into Gibbs' eyes and shook his head, his green ones sparkling with tears, "'Cause my father told me the same thing. He said that if I got up in the night to play when I should be sleeping, the monster in my cupboard would eat me."

"How do you know he wasn't telling the truth?" Tony asked shrewdly,

"Because I grew up DiNozzo. This is just your kid mind, trying to scare you. It's not real."

"Really?" Tony asked, his eyes sparkling as if hardly daring to believe it. But he had to, because it was Gibbs telling him,

"C'mon Tony, if this was under normal circumstances would you believe it then?" Tony shook his head, but cocked it slightly, thinking,

"I don't know Boss, I'm still not sure about vampires..." Gibbs laughed now and asked,

"Is this monster of yours a vampire though?" Tony shook his head again, looking pleased as he conquered the fear in his cupboard, "Anything else in this nightmare of yours kid?" Tony mumbled something that Gibbs couldn't quite hear. Gibbs didn't say anything, sure the baby knew him well enough by now to know that he couldn't hear it. Sure enough Tony repeated himself louder, without being asked,

"My father." Gibbs' expression became stony, and he asked, trying to keep his voice calm,

"What did he do Tony?" Tony's lip wobbled and tears leaked from his eyes, but he stuttered out what happened,

"I was-was just looking around his study. A-at home... there was a... a room I wasn't allowed in, which was h-his off-office and he f-found me... and... I didn't mean to!" He cried out, clutching at Gibbs' sleeves, as if checking the man was still there, "I accidentally knocked over his vase! It was an accident, but he wouldn't... wouldn't believe me!" Gibbs' hands shook ever so slightly as he rubbed comforting circles on Tony's back, bouncing him up and down on his lap. This did nothing to stop the tears, and Gibbs found himself walking up and down the room, bouncing the baby, as he had done so many times before with Kelly, if she was ill or just plain cranky.

Tony wasn't even aware of Gibbs anymore, all he could think of was the trauma that had happened to him all those years ago. The nightmare wasn't a dream at all, it was a memory. Maybe Gibbs was aware of this, as he changed his tactic, sitting back down and turning Tony so that he was facing the older man's face, looking up, still bawling.

"Tony, listen to me. Are you listening?" He repeated the words he'd said to his senior field agent when he'd had the plague. This time, it was less life-threatening, but still just as serious. Thankfully, Tony realised where he was and gulped in some air, sniffing,

"Uh-huh." Was all he said in reply, but Gibbs still looked at him, bringing their heads closer so their foreheads rested together, looking into eachother's eyes.

"Tony, your dad, was a good-for-nothing, child abusing, beer swilling pig, who definitely didn't deserve you," He noticed that Tony was a little more stable, but carried on, "I can't even begin to imagine what must have happened to you, but look at it this way. You can pretend that never happened. You've been given a second chance if you like, a chance for a better childhood. I suggest you put your past where it belongs, behind you. Just... enjoy this. It's not every day you can get this much attention. Aw look kid, you know I'm not good with emotion, but I will say I'm proud of you Tony, you're like... like the son I never had. Like I said before, you've been given the chance to have a better childhood. With a... a better father than the one you had before." Tony gave a watery smile and stuck his arms around Gibbs' body as far as they could go, hugging him tight.

Gibbs smiled, glad that the boy seemed to have listened and put it all behind him. It was quiet in the room for a moment, before Gibbs asked,

"Do you want to go back to sleep now?" Tony shook his head and mumbled something that Gibbs could just make out, as the kid had his head firmly squashed up against the agent's chest,

"I wanna stay with you." Gibbs rolled his eyes, hoping to have gotten some more work done on his boat, and he definitely didn't want to bring Tony down there again, after last night's fiasco, which he'd only told a tiny part of what happened. It had involved a baby almost falling off the boat, trying to eat a screwdriver and whining that he was bored, which eventually turned into a shouting match. Which was made him fall asleep last night, out of pure exhaustion.

"Can you not amuse yourself for a few hours?" Tony shrugged, and asked,

"Are we going back to work tomorrow?"

"Well it _is_ Monday tomorrow. And we have a case." Tony gently hit him on the arm,

"That's not what I mean. Am _I _going back to work?"

"You're going to have to squirt, I'm not going to hire a babysitter."

"I can help with this case right?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow,

"I know you go crazy if you've not been at work, but you get the mind of a child alot. That wouldn't help." Tony looked outraged and quickly defended,

"I do not!" To prove his point, Gibbs reached forward with his hand and swiped at Tony's face. Tucking his thumb into his fingers he waggled it at the baby and said,

"I got your nose." Tony gurgled with delight and tried the same thing at Gibbs. The special agent grinned at the behaviour and snorted,

"Yeah kiddo, 'course you don't act like a child." The baby looked slightly put out as to why the man stopped. So, doing what any good parent would, he carried on. About three minutes later however, Gibbs got extremely bored of this and clicked his fingers in front of Tony's face, not sure how to snap him back into his right mind. This worked though, and soon Tony was chuckling at Gibbs' expense,

"Y'know I was still aware of what was actually happening Gibbs. Wait 'till I tell Abby about this."

"And what would you say DiNozzo? 'The Boss played 'I got your nose' with me?'" Gibbs asked, looking amused. Tony scowled and prodded him in the side.

"I'm bored." He whined, making GIbbs push a hand up his face. What was he supposed to do with Tony for the next 24 hours? Trying to change the subject, Gibbs asked,

"Did you enjoy swimming?" Tony made a kind of raspberry noise and shrugged,

"It wasn't _that _bad. Mostly 'cause you didn't throw me in, but it would've been better if we'd done something. I mean, instead of watching Kate flirt with a murder suspect. It would've been fun to play a bit, y'know? There were loads of pool toys we could've used." He blushed slightly. Would Gibbs pick up on the slight hint that he wanted to play with _him_? He hadn't wanted to seem needy and childish in the pool, but he almost burst into tears as they got out, not having had any time with just Gibbs.

"You want to go back?" The question took him by surprise and he looked up, his eyes wide,

"Are- are you sure?" Gibbs rolled his eyes,

"It's not really any skin off my nose DiNozzo. It's not as if it costs all that much anyway."

"No I mean... you don't mind that... I don't really... you don't mind if I sound... needy?" Gibbs snorted and replied,

"You don't sound needy DiNozzo, you sound like a kid. And as far as I'm concerned, what I'm looking at at the moment is a kid. So what's your problem?" Tony beamed and asked,

"Can we go now?" Gibbs thought for a moment before nodding. It would give them something to do for a while.

--

After being changed and getting the swimming trunks back on him, Tony was carefully lowered into the pool,

"Would you rather go in the normal pool or the kid's one?" Gibbs asked, seeing how uncomfortable the kid looked surrounded by splashing children, just like this morning. Tony shook his head but didn't answer, looking over to see one small kid being pulled along by his dad in a tiny rubber ring, which had a bottom on it, so Tony guessed he couldn't class it as a rubber ring, but what the hell. Gibbs followed his gaze and asked gently,

"You want a go DiNozzo?" Tony blushed, but remembered he'd actually admitted to Gibbs that he wanted to play with him in the pool. He nodded and Gibbs gently took him over to a spare one, and stuck him in it. Tony started to giggle as Gibbs bobbed it up and down. He 'accidently' made it hit into another child's one, who had been screaming the pool down and got a smiles and nods of gratitude all around the pool from other parents.

_Other parents?_

"Gibbs?" Tony asked unsurely, glancing around and seeing his carer was nowhere to be seen. He started to get slightly unsettled, grizzling slightly as he couldn't see him anywhere. Then suddenly, Gibbs appeared right in front of him, giving a small 'Boo', causing Tony to jump violently. Unfortunately, it was a rather large jump, and Gibbs found himself with a capsized ring, and a wailing baby, who was choking as well, having swallowed some water. The arm bands had prevented him from drowning, and he'd only gone slightly under before resurfacing, but it was one time too many, and he couldn't stop crying, terrified.

Gibbs knew someone was bound to come along and ask him to try and quiet the baby, or at least ask if he was ok, but he really didn't like that kind of interaction. Grabbing Tony, he made his way to the steps of the pool and got out, going to the changing rooms and cradling Tony in a towel.

"Hey... shush, it's ok kiddo, it's fine, I'm here. Relax, it's fine, it's over now..." He continued this mantra until Tony stopped and was hiccoughing. With a miserable cough, he mumbled,

"Sorry..." Gibbs was surprised. He'd known it was his own fault, jumping out at the kid like that. Using all his marine training so Tony couldn't see him just made it worse,

"What are you saying sorry for Tony?" He asked softly, starting to dry him down completely and get him changed so he was ready to go,

"'Cause I made it so we had to get out the pool, and we're not gonna come back now are we?" Gibbs shook his head grimly and said,

"Mostly because trouble follows you like a moth drawn to a flame DiNozzo. But look, it's not your fault, you hear me?" Tony nodded, but Gibbs knew he was just doing that so the older man would give it up, "Look at me and tell me that it's my fault."

Tony looked up, his eyes wide,

"Why? I was the one who made the ring fall over..."

"Because I shocked you," Gibbs interrupted, "Don't look so mopey Tony. If you want, I'll play with you at the house." Tony looked up, as if hardly daring to believe it,

"Didn't you want to work on your boat?" Gibbs shrugged and said,

"I can live without sanding for a few hours Tony."

--

He was true to his word and he did indeed play with Tony for a good few hours before the kid finally fell asleep, sucking the dummy Gibbs had offered him at least half an hour before he slept. He shook his head fondly as he left Tony sleeping on a play mat underneath some soft dinosaur toys hanging from an arc, like a mobile. Making coffee, he drank it slowly. As much as he loved spending time with the kid, it was tiring, and the childish games of 'This little piggy' on the baby's toes, and the endless stories he read had taken their toll on the ex-marine. The phone rang in the hall, although thankfully, it didn't wake Tony up, who slept blissfully, the nightmares long forgotten,

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Uh, Boss?" McGee started, sounding rather nervous, "We've got another dead marine in an office building. Apparently he was on leave, and came to visit his cousin at his work." Gibbs nodded, even though McGee couldn't see that and asked,

"Do we have a name?" McGee shuffled some papers and replied,

"Petty Officer Oliver Lacey."

"Lacey?"

"Yeah, it's... it's Arthur Lacey's cousin, he went to visit him. His injuries are... are the same as Petty Officer Green's." Gibbs glanced over to Tony, who had now rolled on his side and had his hand on his dummy. He didn't want to disturb the kid, but there was no one who could come round and look after him. Making his decision, Gibbs answered into the phone,

"Ok McGee, we're coming."

**Review? Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, I might be able to make the chapters more frequent actually, woo, Easter holidays! And it's Jesus weekend soon, so we get chocolate ^^ xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi ^^ Thanks for all the reviews etc etc, let's get down to business :P Sorry it took so long, I thought I'd get more done in the holidays, but obviously not lol ;)  
Dedicated to Elton John lol, I was listening to 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', and for some bizarre reason it inspired me :P  
Warning: Contains the spanking of children**

Gibbs crouched down beside Tony and gently shook the baby's shoulder,

"Tony... come on kiddo, wake up." Tony continued to sleep peacefully, and Gibbs didn't want to disturb him at all. He'd just gotten over his nightmares, and was getting the first decent sleep he'd had in about two days. So, Gibbs just softly picked him up and covered him in the pale blue blanket he'd gotten rather attached to. The dummy threatened to fall out of his mouth, so Gibbs slowly pushed it back in, making his way towards the car.

When they got outside, Tony unconsciously huddled closer to Gibbs, burbling something incomprehensible. Gibbs smiled and sat the baby down in the car seat in the back of the car.

Driving much slower than he would usually, he arrived at the office building just as Ducky pulled up in the van,

"Ah, Jethro, good day?" Gibbs smiled at his old friend and replied, carefully getting Tony from the back of the car,

"If you count having to come into the office on a Sunday with a tired baby who's getting the first decent sleep in a few nights a good day then yeah." Ducky smiled slightly at Tony trying to curl up even more in Gibbs' arms and said,

"Well you better hope he stays asleep until we get our body back home. Lead the way Mr Palmer." Palmer nodded and, taking the gurney, headed to the main doors of the building, where McGee was stood, waiting for Gibbs,

"Er, hi Boss, erm, did I call at a bad time, or...?" He let the question hang there, uncertainty in his voice as he saw the sleeping infant in his boss' arms. Gibbs shook his head impatiently and said,

"He won't be waking up any time soon McGee, tell me what we've got." The young agent nodded and said, as they shot up the building in the elevator,

"Petty Officer Oliver Lacey, was visiting his cousin, Arthur, at his work. Boss claimed that he hadn't seen Lacey all morning, so the Petty Officer said that he'd wait for a few more minutes, just in case. He was sat in Lacey's office when the Boss came in and asked if he wanted a drink, but Petty Officer Lacey was dead." Gibbs nodded, and they stepped out onto the correct floor, where Kate was waiting for them,

"Erm, Gibbs, it's not a nice sight, and er..." She motioned to Tony, who was just starting to wake up, making small noises as he did so,

"You awake now kiddo?" Gibbs whispered to him, and when he got a sleepy nod, he passed him over to Kate and said, "Stay out of trouble while I look at this. McGee shoot and sketch, Kate bag and tag."

"What about Tony?" Kate asked uncertainly as their boss walked away.

"Stick him on a chair or something." Kate rolled her eyes, when she saw something that would keep him amused,

"Look Tony, fishies." She said, in the most patronizing voice she could think of. He wriggled, trying to get out of her grasp and muttered,

"Yeah, I get it. I _am _still an NCIS special agent here." Kate only hummed and stuck him on a chair next to a huge fish tank, full of various coloured fish and ornaments. Tony was soon engrossed in this, his eyes wide and shining as the fish swum past the front of the tank. He kept back, so he didn't mist up the glass, and didn't put his hands on the tank either,

"Tony," Kate said, looking over with a bag in her hands, "You're going to fall off that chair if you don't rest on something." He blushed and hesitantly rested both hands on the glass, before taking them off guiltily when Gibbs rounded the corner. Giving the baby a curious look, Gibbs asked,

"You got a problem with fish tanks kid?" Tony shook his head, and mumbled,

"If I mess up the aquarium I'll be punished." This was obviously something that had been drummed into him from a young age, and Gibbs shook his head and replied,

"You'll be fine Tony, you mess up the glass all you want, McGee'll clean it." Tony gave McGee a victorious grin, who groaned and turned back to snapping pictures,

"We found the murder weapon yet?" Gibbs asked Kate,

"No, there's the chance he just took it with him," She answered, before asking, "You think it's still here?" He nodded and said,

"I'm going to help Ducky. You two concentrate on the bagging and tagging, Tony!"

"Yeah Boss?" he asked innocently as he dipped his hand in the fish tank,

"Don't touch anything, I mean it, this is a crime scene remember, and we don't have gloves small enough for you." Tony nodded and whipped his hands away from everything, keeping them in his lap as he slowly sat down on the chair.

"Attaboy."

--

Looking around sadly, Tony felt extremely bored. There was nothing he could do at all, he wasn't trusted with any of his opinions on the case and he wasn't allowed to look for the weapon. He bet normal babies didn't get this bored so quickly, but at the moment he was finding it hard to slip into the childlike way of thinking, which he usually wouldn't mind at all, but he was just so bored...

Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye as he opened and closed the drawers of the desk he was sat at. Like a magpie, he went for it, and pulled some papers off it to reach it. Then, at the worst possible time, just as he was about to yell for Kate and McGee, his baby side took over, and, no matter how much he was screaming at himself inside to not touch it, he picked up the bloodied knife and studied it.

There was just enough of him there for him to not stick it in his mouth, after last time he was shouted at by Gibbs when he tried to eat his knife. So, he did the next sensible thing. He dropped it in the fish tank. It was quite fun to watch the blood flow upwards off the knife and see the weapon itself sink to the bottom. However, his mind snapped back in horror as he gasped,

"I'm so dead..." He whimpered to himself, closing his eyes in horror as he felt someone come up behind him. Knowing it was Gibbs, he hesitantly turned around and looked up into the ex-marine's eyes, to scared to even speak.

"Just exactly _what _did I say before I left DiNozzo? I said, 'Don't touch anything'. And what do you do? This is a crime scene!" His voice upped in volume, causing anyone from the office or NCIS to quickly scuttle round the corner to find somewhere to hide. Tony shuddered,

"I know, I'm sorry." He croaked. Gibbs just gave him a steely glare and said,

"That knife might have helped us catch this lunatic, but what d you do? You go and drop it in a fish tank! After I told you not to touch anything!" Tony sat with his head bowed down, trying not to sniffle. He hadn't been able to stop himself, but he couldn't say this to Gibbs, who had suddenly picked him up from the chair and sat there himself,

"What are you doing?" He managed to squeak out, knowing the glare on Gibbs' face had yet to vanish,

"Do you know what people tend to do to children who do something they know to be wrong?" Tony nodded slowly, really not liking where this was going. All at once, Gibbs laid him over his knee like blanket and started to give him sharp, hard swats to his backside. Tony tried to stay calm. He knew they wouldn't hurt, not with the cushioning by his backside, but the shock if it sparked his tear ducts, and he started to sob weakly onto Gibbs' lap, who hadn't finished administering the punishment.

It brought back all kinds of memories from his first childhood, and coupled with the spanking, Tony howled miserably, not stopping when Gibbs finally sat him up, his backside stinging slightly, not even when Kate edged into the room asking if he wanted the knife bagged. Tony couldn't hear Gibbs' reply, and maybe he didn't want to, but he continued to cry, ignoring the looks they were getting off people as they exited the office and into the main building.

--

Gibbs felt horrible. He knew he'd have had to do it at some point, DiNozzo was a walking time bomb in that respect, and he'd had to give him enough headslaps as an adult, it was just a wonder that it had taken this long for him to have done something so bad. Knowing Tony had learnt his lesson, he relented on the policy he'd tried to keep of not giving him comfort, but he felt he had to offer some sort, it was killing him listening to Tony's heartbroken sobs.

Wordlessly, he took the blue blanket Tony had arrived in and wrapped it around him, cradling him slightly and bouncing him up and down, hoping to calm him completely before they got to the elevator. McGee and Kate were walking behind them uncomfortably, glancing at each other every so often, wondering what Gibbs had done, or said, although both had a pretty shrewd idea.

Thankfully, he had calmed by the time they reached the elevator, and Tony fell into an exhausted sleep, snuffling miserably. However, everyone noticed how little snuggling he was doing, and he'd become a 'total snuggle bug' as Abby had called him, since he'd became smaller. Kate could just imagine how Gibbs was feeling. Guilty, horrified at himself and sad, that Tony seemed to have lost his trust in the older man.

--

They had to go back to NCIS after this, rather than going home, and Gibbs started barking out orders to Kate and McGee, telling them to find Lacey and either bring him in or arrange to meet him somehow. They both went to get their guns and Gibbs went to walk down to Abby's lab, hoping to leave Tony there for an hour or two,

"Gibbs!" Said agent turned to see he had been shouted by the Director. He stopped, allowing Morrow to catch up with him and say, "Why did you requisition new computers for all your team? Surely you knew that this would be a waste of money as I haven't heard you or anyone in your team complaining." Gibbs squared up to him and replied,

"Special Agent McGee said he thought there was a virus on them and he said there was nothing we could do for it, so we have to..."

"Gibbs, I'm well aware that at least one person on your team is a computer nerd, but buying three new computers seems a bit steep."

"Director, in all fairness..." Tony yawned slightly, letting them slug it out. He was getting quite bored, and felt rather unstable swinging from Gibbs' arms as his grip loosened ever so slightly as he argued with Morrow. And it sounded like he was loosing the argument. Not knowing why, Tony put his arms out to the Director and said, brightly,

"Ganpa!" Gibbs looked down at him in surprise as Morrow did a double take,

"Isn't that...?"

"Special Agent DiNozzo yes. Unfortunately due to his state right now, he sometimes has small relapses and can't fight the baby side of his mind." Morrow nodded and bent down so he was looking into Tony's eyes,

"Although I am old enough to be your Grandpa son, I'm not." Tony sensed they would be able to get away soon, and perhaps Gibbs did as well, as he coughed slightly, urging Tony to step it up slightly. He did so, and stuck his thumb in his mouth, yawning slightly. Gibbs grabbed at this chance and said,

"Well Sir, Tony's getting really tired, and I wanted to get him down to Abby's lab, she has a bed, of sorts, for him down there." Morrow nodded and said,

"Of course, of course. Goodbye my boy, my nephew's wife is working hard for you." Gibbs grinned at him and quickly walked off so that Morrow couldn't remember why he'd called Gibbs over.

"Ok Kid, truce. Does this mean I owe you?" Tony nodded, and grinned wickedly. However, his face soon drooped and he whispered,

"Sorry about before Boss... I really didn't mean to, it was like the spaghetti thing all over again. I could see what I was doing but I couldn't help it, I..." He was stopped in his babbling by a finger pressing against his lips.

"I'm sorry Tony, but you have to understand I can't just let you get away with things like that." Tony nodded morosely, but snuggled against Gibbs, still tired, and fell asleep before the elevator reached lab level.

**I know this chapter isn't that long, sorry :( Ah well, Review?? xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Eeep, sorry for the delay :S Thanks for all the reviews, and I just want to add...  
A certain reviewer gave a very strong review concerning child abuse. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and am in no way angry or anything about it, but I just want to say, that in my defense, this is a work of fiction, I had a warning at the start of the chapter, there are plenty of other stories that feature much worse abuse than spanking as a punishment and none of them get any complaints, and in context, Gibbs still sometimes sees him as his agent, so don't judge him too harshly ;)  
Anyway, after that incredibly long A/N, here ya go :)**

Abby heard her music turned off even before she heard the doors open. Gibbs strode in with Tony in his arms, and smiled quite tiredly at her,

"Hey Gibbs!" She chirped happily, "I heard about what happened in that office building. Got the evidence too." She showed him a bag with a damp knife in it, traces of blood still evident on it,

"I think I can still pull fingerprints off it," She continued, "And I'm running the blood to see if we get any matches. So no harm done." Gibbs glanced down at Tony, who by this time had started to suck his thumb in an adorable manner, and felt horribly guilty. He'd spanked the child and made him cry, because he'd disobeyed him, and all really for nothing. Though he had to learn, Gibbs argued with himself, and then realised it all didn't matter. He'd soon be back to his normal self, and wouldn't need any lessons, he'd know them already.

Then, a disgusting thought hit Gibbs. Was he no worse than Tony's father?

"Gibbs?" He looked up to see Abby looking at him, her head cocked slightly in a curious puppy-type way. He breathed out, before quickly handing Tony over to her and, ignoring her questioning look, walked out swiftly.

"Huh," Was all she said, looking down at Tony and smiling rather happily, "Looks like it's just you and me squirt." Tony mumbled something but didn't open his eyes, and Abby grinned before realising she had loads of work to do, and was stuck holding a baby.

"I'm sorry Tony," She said, meaning every word, "But the amount of work I have to do, you're not gonna be able to stay here. _Ducky _on the other hand, he'd love to have you visit him. You wanna go see uncle Ducky baby?" She loved speaking to him like that, but knew it was only when he was asleep she'd get away with it. Though she knew Kate had already had a go at it, she'd given the lab tech a detailed account of what happened back at the crime scene. At that moment, Tony chose to wake up, looking up at her blearily,

"Abbs?"

"Yeah baby?" He tried to scowl at her, but was still sleepy, and couldn't, not when she'd sounded so sincere,

"I'm hungry." She grinned happily, and answered,

"Gibbs'll have something for you, I'm sure, he came in with a bag this morning, it must have something in it." Tony just shrugged, choosing to go back to sleep as Abby started towards the elevator, and onto their office floor,

"Gibbs!" He looked up from where McGee had been talking to him, while sat at his desk, and looked rather confused,

"What've you got Abbs?"

"A hungry baby Gibbs. He told me, and I said you'd probably have something for him." He furrowed his eyebrows, and said,

"Abbs the kid's asleep." She stuck her tongue out and said,

"He woke up for about a minute, then fell asleep again. Do you not let him sleep at night Gibbs?" Gibbs hesitated, sure Tony didn't want everyone to know about his nightmares. So instead, he just said,

"I'm trying to get him into a normal sleep pattern, so when he's back to normal, he won't be interrupted." She stared at him for a bit, and he could practically hear the cogs in her head turning,

"Ok," She said after a while, and handed the still sleeping baby over, "But you'd better feed him right now, or I'm taking him back with me to see Ducky." Gibbs wasn't entirely sure what kind of threat that was, but took Tony anyway. He fished about in the bag he had, well aware that his agents and Abby were all staring in interest. Honestly, what was so interesting about watching a baby get fed?

"McGee, track Petty Officer Lacey's phone records, see if..."

"Arthur Lacey contacted him before this." McGee finished for him, and started to type furiously at his computer,

"Kate, go interview Lacey's boss at the office, see what..."

"He has to say about him. On it." She finished as well, and went towards the elevator. Gibbs rummaged for a bit, before saying,

"I've only got a bottle. Think he'll be alright with milk until I can get some real food?"

"Milk'd be nice." Tony mumbled, opening his eyes again, blinking and yawning, "What've we got on the case so far Boss?" He asked, while Gibbs instructed Abby to go heat some milk up.

"I don't see why you have to know right now Tony." He answered, and, seeing the kid was going to argue, he decided to distract him,

"See what I brought from home Tony?" He asked in a soothing voice, trying to work out how exactly he could click the kid's mind again so he wouldn't ask about the case again. Gibbs wasn't sure why he didn't want him to know at the moment, but something was telling him he shouldn't have to deal with it right now. Thankfully, he saw a small flash in Tony's eyes, and instinctively knew he was gone. But he'd be fighting back, so Gibbs rocked him slightly and murmured,

"Just relax kiddo, you're fine, I got you, nothing's going to happen." There was no sign as to whether or not Tony was still fighting, but he smiled happily and lifted his arms when Gibbs pulled George the teddy bear out of his bag,

"Thought that might keep you occupied for a while." He muttered, and started to slowly tap at the keys on his keyboard one-handed, as he was holding Tony tightly with his other arm. Soon, Abby was back, and cooing at Tony's cuteness, who had been burbling quite happily to himself and bouncing George up and down on his lap. She looked over to Gibbs as she passed him the bottle and asked,

"I'm guessing he's not in his right mind now is he?" Gibbs shook his head and she declared, "I'm going to give it a name... how about Tony Junior? Then, instead of saying 'Oh, Tony's in his baby mind', we can just say, 'Aw, it's Tony junior!'." She looked pleased with herself, and Gibbs granted her a smile, before saying,

"Yeah, I think I found a way to kind of... bring out 'Tony Junior'," Abby looked intrigued, and he explained, "If you speak to him with a certain tone in your voice, and in a certain way, he gets a kind of, spark in his eyes, and 'Tony Junior' comes out." Abby looked excited and bent down so she was sat in front of Tony Junior, and said,

"Hey baby! Who's that? Is that George? Oh, he looks happy doesn't he? Hey, I know a rhyme about bears! Ready?" She gently took his palm and start to tiptoe her fingers around his palm, making him giggle happily,

_"Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear... one step, two step, and a tickly under there!" _With that she tickled under his chin, where her hand had progressed through the many 'steps'. Gibbs smiled at her ways with children. And Tony was indeed enjoying it. Maybe Abby would teach him that rhyme, though it wasn't exactly that hard to remember,

"Hey Abbs, the kid said he was hungry right?" She smiled at him and stood up, trying not to get right back down at the puppy dog look she was getting,

"How do you get him back to normal Tony?" She asked,

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked, causing the baby to give a small start and shake his head,

"Sorry Boss! I swear I do try and stay in control, but..."

"Hey Tony, don't worry, whenever you go into Tony Junior mode it's so sweet! Are you aware of everything when it happens to you?" She asked interestedly, despite Gibbs' hints to leave so Tony could actually eat,

"Yeah," He said, in answer to Abby's question, "You're tickles are really too tickly Abbs, you might want to tone them down." She seemed to be remembering this for future reference and finally said,

"Well, I'm sure my babies are calling me right now, so I'd better scoot." With that, she gave Tony a huge hug and a kiss on the head, got one for herself off Gibbs and darted off. Tony looked up at his boss in the quiet office, and said,

"Hey Boss? Did Abbs bring any food? It should be my lunch hour in about..." He paused, not being able to tell the time as he gazed at the clock above McGee's desk,

"Ten minutes Tony, but you should drink this, you've not had that much today." Tony nodded, feeling slightly at ease being fed by Gibbs, which made up for the nervousness that was racking his body as he realised he was drinking milk out of a bottle in the office. Still, he enjoyed it, everything seemed to taste way better this way, and he got filled up faster for some odd reason. So, he leaned back, sucking slowly as Gibbs patiently fed him, trying not to let the content grin show on his face that would come later, when he was at home and when Tony was sleeping.

Still, the baby was much more restless now, even after the comforting feed, and started to wriggle all over the place, desperate for the chance to go for a walk about,

"C'mon Gibbs, just round the office? I swear I won't talk to anyone, and it's no as if I'd run off." Gibbs considered his proposition, and tried a compromise,

"How about, in ten minutes, when it's our lunch break,we go to the park?" Tony cocked his head, considering this,

"Never took you to be a 'picnic in the park' kind of guy Boss." Gibbs grimaced at him and shrugged, saying,

"Don't get your hopes up, we're not having a picnic."

"Awww..."

--

Precisely ten minutes after that, Gibbs made his way towards the park not too far away from NCIS. He held onto Tony pretty tightly as they walked past a small water fountain that foolish parents were letting their kids run into in their bathing suits. Not that Gibbs had anything against it, he remembered letting Kelly do exactly the same thing, but it was only the beginning of Spring, and Gibbs wouldn't want Tony wandering around out without a jacket on, even in normal circumstances.

He found a patch of grass that had been somewhat warmed by the sun, and sat down, putting Tony next to him, as he felt it would be pretentious to assume Tony would _want _to sit on his lap. They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Tony perked up, seeing a kid near them with an ice cream,

"Hey Boss..."

"I see it Tony," Gibbs replied, having noticed the ice cream truck as soon as they sat down, "Don't you think it's a bit too cold to have an ice cream now?" He added, rubbing Tony's small hands with his own warm ones, feeling how cold they were. Tony shook his head determinedly, and Gibbs relented, almost,

"How about, if you get so warm you need to take this jacket off, I'll buy one, but otherwise..." Tony tried his best to whine in an influencing way, but all he got was a small tap on the back of his head and a,

"DiNozzo, I was suggesting you go and play ball or something." Tony blushed, but did this mean...? Was Gibbs offering to...?

"Er, Boss? Are you going to play as well?"

"Wouldn't manage with one person kid." Tony smiled brightly, seeming to light up the whole park. He was undoubtedly this cute and sunny when he was really this age, but from some hints he'd dropped, coupled with the nightmares, it seemed his family hadn't cared about that. This got Gibbs back to thinking about what he'd thought back in Abby's lab,

"Tony..." He started, and Tony looked up, hearing a slight change in the older man's tone, "Did your father ever used to... hit you, if you'd done something wrong?" Tony stopped fidgeting and the smile started to drop off his face. The change in the mood was obvious, and Tony knew what Gibbs was getting at, he was a damned good investigator,

"Boss, you did that 'cause you had to, and I don't think anyone's ever disobeyed you before. I know you feel bad, but honestly, no big deal." His mood was too good to be true, and Gibbs replied,

"I've _never _hit a child Tony. _Never_. I don't know what came over me, I just, sometimes see you as..."

"Tony. Not Tony Junior. I did hear what you and Abby were talking about earlier you know," He added, seeing Gibbs' face, "And don't worry, you're not like him."

"Like who?"

"My daddy... I mean... my father, oh god, my head blanked for a moment, that was weird. Boss I think this thing's just getting worse." Gibbs stroked his head absent-mindedly, thinking, and replied,

"Don't worry Tony, we'll get you back to normal soon." Tony nodded, and leaned back onto Gibbs, enjoying the rough, marine hand running through his hair. Then, he sat back up, feeling all that pent-up energy running through him again,

"I thought we were gonna play ball Da... Gibbs?" Gibbs' heart missed a beat, but the kid looked too embarrassed to be approached about it, so he just pulled a cricket ball out of his pocket, stolen from Ducky, who told him that 'When I was younger, I was the most marvelous cricket player, you know, back in Scotland, we called those...' but never heard the end of that story, having walked out when he'd started, the first sentence just reaching his ears.

Tony's eyes widened and shone brightly,

"We're going to play catch?"

"The great father/son American pastime." Gibbs only half joked and stood up, plonking Tony down on the floor, and backing away slightly, throwing the ball from hand to hand until he was a short way away from Tony,

"Go long." He said sarcastically and threw the ball incredibly gently towards the toddler, who not surprisingly missed it, and blushed slightly, stumbling over to where it was and threw it very weakly back. Gibbs quickly grew tired of this, and he was sure Tony did as well, and said,

"I think we'll save this until you're normal again." Tony looked up at him and said,

"Promise?" Gibbs nodded and sighed as he looked down at his watch and realised they had somehow nearly reached the end of their lunch hour,

"Come on," He said, letting Tony toddle next to him, clutching at his trousers to keep him upright, "I suppose you can have an ice cream now." Tony beamed and clamoured to be carried, whining his legs hurt too much. Gibbs had rolled his eyes but hadn't hesitated, rather having to carry Tony than have him in any discomfort.

Soon, he was walking back to NCIS with a toddler he was trying to hold at arms length who was licking an ice cream, ultimately having it go all over him, all down his clothes and face.

"Isn't it a bit too cold out there for ice creams today Special Agent Gibbs?" The agent at the desk near the metal detector asked, eyes twinkling as he was amused by Tony's attempts to stop the ice cream falling out of the cone. Gibbs grinned and answered,

"We were coming back here into the warm anyway."

"Cleaners won't appreciate you dripping that everywhere young man." He said in a mock serious tone to Tony, who didn't really pay much attention and continued licking the ice cream. Gibbs snorted and said,

"I don't think he cares."

"Bit like his Uncle then, 'aint he?" He asked, looking over to Gibbs, as the word had spread he had his little nephew staying with him. Gibbs nodded and, saying goodbye, headed back to their floor. He found both McGee and Kate sat at the latter's desk, eating chinese. McGee's mouth fell open slightly at the sight of Gibbs holding a sticky toddler with ice cream everywhere, whereas Kate had a much more smooth,

"Hey Gibbs, Tony." Gibbs nodded, and without warning dumped Tony in McGee's arms and said,

"I've got to go see the Director. Kate, brief me about Lacey when I get back, McGee!"

"Yes Boss?" He answered, glancing nervously at the small boy sat on his lap,

"Clean DiNozzo up." He ordered with a slight grin, and made his way to MTAC.

**Oh McGee's going to have fun 0.o And don't worry, one idea I have in mind for the next chapter involving those two is quite good. By that I mean Tony getting well and truly lost in the office only half way through being cleaned up ;P Review? Thanks for reading btw ^^ xx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for all the incredible reviews ^^ I love you all :) Here's the next bit, your reviews sparked me off on a writing frenzy ;)**

McGee started stuttering as soon as Gibbs was out of range, and Kate and Tony shared a knowing look, they could make this _so_ much worse.

"Er, Kate, do you think you could...?"

"Help? No can do McGee, he asked you, I need to write my report." McGee nodded and looked down at Tony with apprehension. The baby smiled his most charming and sweet smile, which actually made McGee relax slightly, and stand up slowly, terrified of dropping him.

"Don't worry so much Probie," Tony said conversationally, as McGee set him down at Gibbs' desk, "Just so long as you don't hurt me in any way, or if I'm too cold, or hot, or tired..."

"Or hungry, or uncomfortable, or angry, or anything like that to make him cry..." Kate added,

"Then Gibbs probably won't kill you." Tony finished, eyes glittering as he saw how nervous McGee looked. At least this was one sport he could do in his current situation. McGee reached into the bag Gibbs had in the office with shaking hands, and pulled out what looked to be some baby wipes, that he started wiping Tony's face with. It showed just how much he usually got teased by the senior field agent as he kept stopping and glancing down, sure he'd be shouted at.

Tony was instantly bored by the procedure, gazing around, the energy he had felt from that morning not having been used up properly in the park. He start to fidget some more, and got prodded in the side slightly,

"Will you stay still?" McGee asked, annoyed. Tony grinned a slightly evil grin and kept still as a rock - which caused something of a dilemma as McGee had to change his clothes,

"Ok Tony, very funny, but you can move again alright? I need to get these clothes off," He paused, and idea hitting him, "If you don't behave, I'll have to get Kate to come over here and change you." The baby froze for a second before shrugging and whining,

"It's uncomfortable." There was a mock intake of breath from the desk nearest to him and he heard Kate say,

"You'd better make it better McGee, Gibbs won't like it if he came down and found that Tony had suffered under your care." McGee scoffed and replied,

"_I'm _the one suffering here Kate, he seems to find a way to annoy me even when he's a baby." Kate shrugged and answered,

"You should be nicer then Tim, babies can be devious little things when they want. I'm sure if you're mean to him again, he'll find a way to... _slip off_..." McGee had no idea what Kate meant by that, missing the flash in her eyes and the small knowing smile she'd given to Tony, who was smiling back. They'd have fun with this, he thought, as McGee start to hesitantly change him.

Changing didn't bother him now. He'd gotten to terms with the fact it would happen whatever, and what Gibbs had said to him had made sense. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, he _was _only a baby to be fair. Even having the Probie clean up down there wasn't a bad as it could have been, though he had no idea what they'd say when he was back to normal.

Nothing was better, in Tony's opinion that pranking McGeek. If it got him into trouble with Gibbs it was even better. And if Tony himself _wasn't_ in trouble it was incredible. And Kate had given him a good idea. Now he was dry, clean and ice cream free, it was the perfect time to strike. While McGee bumbled around under the table, looking for the spare clothes, Tony very neatly and gracefully hopped off the table. He'd managed to slide off onto Gibbs' chair, and then onto the floor, only stumbling slightly as he landed. As he ran off (And Kate was sure he would have yelled 'Freedom!' if he wasn't in a room surrounded by Federal Agents who thought he was a normal child), getting to finally use all that pent-up energy, Kate couldn't help but chortle at the sight.

"McGee?"

"Yeah?" he answered, standing up from where he'd been bent over, rummaging through the bag. His face turned a very unusual colour that Kate thought belonged in a carpet shop somewhere, as he realised Tony was no longer sat on the table,

"Kate, erm... what... when did... I..." She took pity on the young agent, who was clearly worried about the wayward toddler and was babbling, running a hand through his hair,

"Relax McGee, he's just probably really bored, you can't blame him, stuck with Gibbs for most of the weekend tends to do that to you." This did nothing to calm McGee down, and he said to her,

"But what if he gets ill? It's not really _that _warm in here, and he was only wearing a diaper..."

"What?!" A voice from behind him screeched, and Abby appeared from nowhere, hearing the conversation, "Tell me it's not true McGee," She glared at him, a murderous glint in her eyes, "Tell me, you didn't let a baby wearing nothing but a diaper run amok around the office? What if he gets lost?" McGee really wasn't a very nice colour at this point, causing Kate to stand up and say,

"Tim, go sit down, me and Abby will handle this."

"Handle what?" All three of them gulped and turned to find Gibbs stood behind them, cup of coffee in hand and a face that clearly said 'Don't mess with me, I've been with the Director too long for that'.

"Gibbs! Funny story, I just came up here to tell you the most _amazing _thing I found in the lab!"

"Where's Tony?" He asked quietly, noticing the baby wasn't in the office, not deterred by Abby's 'amazing' news. They looked at each other, and Kate, knowing Abby would stumble and Tim wasn't in any fit state to talk to Gibbs, stepped forward,

"McGee was cleaning Tony up and when he was... looking for fresh clothes, Tony got, kinda bored and... wandered off." She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as the loud,

"WHAT?!" Echoed around the office. Only seeing Abby's frightened face calmed him slightly, and he said, in a quieter voice, "Are you saying you let him run off somewhere, without clothes, and he could be anywhere in this office now?"

"He was wearing a diaper," Abby added helpfully, and also, "He could've gotten in the elevator." At the black look he gave them, all three jumped up and chorused,

"We'll find him Boss." Before darting off in directions. He ground his teeth and grabbed the spare clothes, _not very hard to find Elf Lord_, he thought to himself sourly. He stalked up and down the various desks, ignoring the odd looks he got from the agents when they thought his back was turned - they were all scared of Gibbs.

--

Tony had had a whale of a time. The look on the Probie's face was priceless, he stayed around just to see that and then he was off. Ok, not quite 'greyhound' standard yet, he still stumbled slightly, but he was making good time. He knew he was being looked at, the agents would've been pretty poor agents if they hadn't realised the baby running around the floor, wearing nothing but a diaper.

At least he was finally able to use his energy, he practically tore down the corridors. He soon bumped into someone and fell over completely, only amazed he hadn't done it sooner. Looking up, he gasped somewhat to see he'd banged into the Director. Thankfully, he was on his own, not having an important discussion or anything, but Tony knew that Morrow knew it was him, so he just said,

"Hi Sir." Morrow spluttered and started to laugh,

"A baby with manners. How quaint. Tell me DiNozzo, why aren't you dressed?" Tony looked down himself as if only just realising, and replied,

"I was playing about with the Probie Sir, and ran off before he could put clothes on me." Morrow nodded in interest and asked,

"Is Agent Gibbs not looking for you?" Tony blushed slightly and looked down, saying,

"Don't tell him! He'll just be angry, and he's got a lot to deal with. On the case, I mean..." The Director bent down so he was almost level with Tony and brought his chin up with his fingers,

"I won't tell him, but you can't just wander round here you know, you're going to be extremely cold, and Gibbs is never pleased when you get ill." This small statement gave Tony a very warm feeling inside, but asked, politely and shyly,

"Will you take me down to Ducky please?" The older man nodded, a smile reaching his eyes as he picked up the first baby in god knows how long and walked over to the elevator, snorting slightly to see Agent McGee scuttling about, an earnest look on his face.

--

"Director! What can I do for you?" Ducky asked, not having turned around, but the Director had been talking just as he walked in through the doors,

"Tony!" Abby cried happily from where she had been stood next to the ME. Ducky pulled a face and said,

"My dear, I don't believe that will be Tony, he doesn't talk like that and certainly can't press the elevator button." On getting no answer, he turned to find Abby taking Tony out of Morrow's arms and thanking him profusely, before running off to get Tony dressed.

In the small wait, Morrow asked Ducky a few questions about the case, and then decided it would be best to go back to his office. Ducky nodded his understanding and bid him goodbye, just as Abby came back in with Tony, now wearing trousers and a cardigan over a tee-shirt, it was cold in autopsy. He was also wearing socks, but no shoes, although it wasn't really a priority,

"Really Tony, don't you _dare _do that again! You hear me? Seriously, you know how worried Gibbs was? How worried we all were?" Abby was almost hysterical, not hearing when Tony quietly croaked,

"Sorry Abbs, I..." Tears started to build in his eyes,

"Abigail, I think you should be less harsh. He's back now, and that's what matters." Abby looked down and saw to her horror that Tony was sobbing in her arms, stuttering out how sorry he was,

"Hey baby I'm sorry, but you got us all worried. Here, I'll call Gibbs, and then..."

"No need Abbs." Gibbs strode into the room, his eyes dark and when he looked over at Tony they flashed slightly and brightened up. He went over and eased the baby out of Abby's arms, who looked rather nervous,

"Hey, don't do that again ok?" Abby's mouth fell open at the tiny telling off Tony had gotten. It wasn't even a telling off, more a suggestion to stop something. Although Tony didn't stop crying, and Gibbs looked up to the other two and said, rather apologetically,

"He's worn out, he'll be happier when he's slept." With that he went out, bouncing Tony up and down until the elevator doors closed and they couldn't see them anymore,

"Did you see that?" Abby asked, her mouth still open,

"I do believe our Jethro is fully into the joys of parenthood," Ducky said to her, "It's better to stay away until he's less..." He waved his arm to help him think of the word,

"Soppy? Gooey? Soft?" Abby offered, making him chuckle,

"Yes," He answered, "Exactly."

--

"You did what?" Kate asked. Gibbs had sat Tony on her lap and told him not to move as he went to get some food. So Kate used this time to asked Tony about his small adventure,

"I ran into the Director," He answered, shrugging. He felt much better after a small sleep and missed all their talk about the case, "He was quite nice, taking me down to Ducky, I hadn't seen him in a while."

"The Director?"

"Ducky, idiot."

"Hey!" Kate admonished, jumping him up and down on her knee as she did so, "Be nice." He rolled his eyes and asked,

"So what's the plan?" She gave him an odd look to show she had no idea what he was on about, making him sigh and say, "With Lacey? Did'ya get any evidence on him yet?"

"The blood on the knife matched the victim's, his cousin's, so that's definitely the knife that killed him. Abby managed to pull prints off the knife, but there weren't any hits."

"It's not his?" Tony asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Kate shook her head,

"This guy's clean, never even gotten a parking ticket. We need to get his fingerprints." Tony thought for a while, before saying,

"But if it isn't him he'd get suspicious, and Abby said he was related to the Mafia in someway, so if it was _their _doing, they'd know we were onto them..." He had been thinking so hard he hadn't heard Gibbs approach,

"Hey, if you can't even use the toilet, you're not going to help with the case." Tony stuck his tongue out moodily, and Gibbs incredibly laughed and ruffled his hair slightly. He placed a muffin in front of the baby who grinned happily,

"Have I ever told you how much I love you Boss?"

--

After having to be cleaned up _again_, Tony was told what was happening tomorrow,

"Kate called Lacey and asked if he wanted to meet at the nursery tomorrow," Tony frowned, but Gibbs continued, "And you're going to get his prints, Kate you need to interrogate him, maybe ask what he did yesterday or whatever, you know what I mean."

"A casual investigation," Tony mused, chewing his fingernails, "Sounds more fun than anything we've ever done Boss," His grin faded at the look Gibbs gave him and he hastily added, "I- I mean at _work_ Boss, we have plenty of fun normally, of course we do..."

Kate snorted and asked,

"What do you do to have such fun Tony?" He answered without thinking,

"Read stories, almost playing catch, play games, or it's nice at night, when I'm about to sleep, and he gives me a drink, but..." Gibbs rolled his eyes and passed him George, saying,

"Play for a little while kiddo." Kate was amazed Tony suddenly got on with it, sat on the floor with his teddy,

"That was weird." She stated, and got a look from Gibbs,

"Me and Abby worked out how to get him to go to 'Tony Junior' as Abbs calls it." Kate smiled at the baby,

"How do you get him out?"

"Just talk to him normally." She smiled again and jumped as Gibbs seemed to just swoop in and pick Tony up. The baby squealed happily and started to giggle as Gibbs casually rubbed his back,

"It's late," He announced, "The kid'll still be tired from your little stunt." He glared over at McGee, who busied himself with his computer and Kate straightened in her seat and said in a serious voice,

"To be fair Gibbs, it wasn't just McGee's or my faults, Tony was the one who ran off." Gibbs growled at her and walked off, making Kate feel sorry for the baby in his arms that was still cooing and pulling at his bear's ears.

**Aw, not as long as some of the others, but I didn't know what to put in after the whole escaping scenario lol ;P Review? xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Heya :) Thanks again for the messages, reviews, hints etc. I hate to sound like a broken record, but they really brighten my day ^^ And I do believe this is the best idea I've ever had lol, par Tony's entertainment ;)**

When they got home for the night, Tony was surprisingly happy and hyper, fiddling around with his bear in the car and jabbering away to himself. Gibbs smiled as the kid started to chew his bear's ear in what was obviously an affectionate gesture. They were soon home, and Gibbs stuck Tony down on the floor, as he was fidgeting like mad,

"If I find out that someone gave you sugar there'll be hell to pay." Gibbs muttered as he managed to take the excitable child's cardigan off. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Tony immediately ran off, that nap he'd had after his adventure obviously working _far _too well. It would be so much easier if the kid wasn't 'Tony Junior' right now.

"DiNozzo!" He barked, the happy chirping as the child played ceasing immediately, making Gibbs feel guilty. He heard him get to his feet and toddle out of the room, stopping near Gibbs' legs and hanging on them, looking up and saying,

"Yeah Boss?" Gibbs thought for a moment. He didn't really have a valid explanation as to why he'd called the baby out of the room, so he just said,

"You still hungry?"

"Starving!" The ex-marine thought again. He couldn't be bothered cooking, so it wouldn't be that bad if he called takeout would it?

"What d'you say to pizza kiddo?" Tony's eyes shone brightly and he beamed up,

"I haven't had that in _ages_! Really?" Gibbs laughed at his excitement and picked him up, ruffling his hair slightly,

"Really. Now, I'll call this is in, only if you go play somewhere quietly while I work on the boat." Tony scowled for a moment,

"I don't _have _to play Gibbs, I'm not _that _childish." He looked quite angry, making Gibbs almost do a double take. However, he just shook his head and said,

"Well I can't take you into the basement again, you know what happened last time," Tony blushed and looked down, "So how about you amuse yourself upstairs?" Tony's eyes lit up. He'd never really been upstairs properly in the Boss' house, only using the room he was in now to sleep. He tried not to look too eager and agreed.

"Alright, but what can I do?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something kid. Off you go." He put Tony on the floor and went in the direction of the basement, taking with him the phone and a baby monitor, the twin of it probably in one of the rooms upstairs. Tony rolled his eyes but glanced up the stairs, gulping slightly. That was quite a long way up. But his legs were stronger now, he'd ran around NCIS that afternoon and had only fallen over once, and that was bumping into someone.

He slowly climbed the stairs, not really sure how he was going to get down, but he'd think of a way. Getting to the top, he glanced around, not sure where to go first. An open door beckoned him in, and when he got in he gazed about in delight. This was Gibbs' room. It was quite plain, tidy, and didn't look like it was used much, so it was a bit of a disappointment, but Tony nosed around anyway, carefully opening drawers and boxes, making sure he didn't knock over a picture of Gibbs, a red haired woman and a pretty young girl.

Then, Tony found something much better to look at. He opened a box in the corner to see that it was filled with his Boss' old marine clothes. Beaming wildly and unable to contain himself, he reached in...

--

Gibbs stopped sanding for a moment, hearing the doorbell go. After being handed the pizza and paying the guy, Gibbs set it down at the table. Now, he just had to find Tony. Hoping the kid hadn't just found a comfy corner somewhere and gone to sleep, he climbed the stairs, marine senses on alert, waiting to hear a noise.

He didn't have to wait very long to hear a small giggle and Tony mumbling something to himself. Grinning, and guessing the kid had gone 'Tony Junior' on him, Gibbs went in the direction of the noise. He frowned and paused as he reached his room. He scowled to himself. He _knew _he should have closed the door properly, he had all sorts in there, hidden weapons (Just in case), photos he didn't want to be asked questions about, all sorts.

Opening the door, he was bowled over by the sight that met his eyes. Tony was stood in front of the long mirror near his wardrobe, admiring his new attire. He'd pulled clothes out of one of the boxes in his room that was obviously his old marine gear. For lack of something better to do, he'd put it on, including the hat, and was trying to stumble back to the box, seeing what else he could find. Gibbs couldn't help chuckling. The kid was swamped. The jumper was way too big and fell down to the floor, and the hat was sliding down over his eyes.

He obviously hadn't been able to fit any other pieces of clothing on, but looked proud of himself nonetheless. Then, Gibbs noticed something odd. Tony hadn't realised that Gibbs was there yet, but when you listened, he was clearly talking usually to himself, he wasn't Tony Junior at all. Gibbs bit back a laugh, and quietly reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. This was too cute to resist, Abby would probably frame it or something.

McGee had recently taught him how to use the camera on his phone, so using that, he quickly took the picture, grinning as it showed Tony looking happily in the mirror, pulling at the jumper, trying to pull it up.

"Playing dress-up kiddo?" He asked softly, not wanting the kid to feel intimated or teased. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Tony stumbled backwards, stuttering slightly and turning red,

"Gibbs!" He cried out, just stopping himself falling into the box, "I'm sorry! I'll put it all back! I just... you didn't say that - you didn't say your room was out of bounds, so I just..." Gibbs shook his head, an amused smile on his face,

"It's alright kid, I expected you to do something," He paused, studying the baby, "Looks like we got ourselves a very small marine here huh?" Tony grinned slightly and asked, quietly,

"Do you think I'm a good marine?" He looked into Gibbs' eyes, hoping he wouldn't let Gibbs down. The older man smiled at him, picking him up and righting the hat on his head,

"I think," He said, "You're an amazing marine Tony. I'd tell you to join them if you weren't such a good NCIS agent." Tony's eyes glowed and his smile dazzled Gibbs,

"Come on," He added, pulling that hat off the kid's head, "Pizza's here." Tony beamed again and started to pull at the jumper, trying to get it off. Chuckling, Gibbs pulled it off for him, stowing it carefully in the box before glancing down at Tony and saying, in a mock stern voice,

"Hope you didn't make that jumper wet Gunny." Tony blushed as he was bore away to the changing table.

--

Gibbs sat Tony down in the highchair, and pulled the bib round his neck,

"Think you can feed yourself tonight kiddo?" Tony blushed and nodded, grabbing the small slice of pizza that Gibbs had made sure was cooled before giving it to him. He started to chew it, and eventually finished, but it looked like a chore.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, seeing his face, "You ok?"

In truth, Tony didn't feel ok at all. He felt quite warm, and his nose seemed to be running uncontrollably. He sniffed, hoping it was just one of those childhood things. Nearly every kid he saw had a snotty nose, so he just ignored it. However, his mouth was hurting quite a bit, and he rubbed his cheek self-consciously.

"What's wrong?" Tony looked up to see Gibbs staring at him, knowing something was up. Smiling brightly, not wanting to ruin their evening, Tony shook his head, and said,

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." He turned back to his second slice, but was unable to eat it. Gibbs still glanced at him, watching worriedly as Tony continued to rub at his cheek and was starting to drool.

They were silent for a while longer, before Tony started to cough. Gibbs threw down his napkin as Tony glanced up, embarrassed,

"Tony, something's wrong, tell me what it is." Tony didn't dare lie under that harsh marine glare, so he said softly,

"I haven't been feeling very well since we left work, and it's just kinda...gotten worse. I'm too warm, my gums really hurt, and my nose is all runny. And I suppose I'm coughing as well." Gibbs sighed, getting up and pulling Tony out of the high chair. After giving his face a quick rub so he was clean, Gibbs went to sit on the sofa, cradling Tony, who snuggled into him desperately, suddenly needing the attention,

"I don't feel too well." He whined helplessly, somehow feeling more emotional from the hold. Gibbs rocked him slightly and kissed his head, stroking the thick, dark hair,

"It's ok Tony, I think you're just teething." Tony let out a small sob, and buried his head into Gibbs' shoulder, getting snot on his jumper. Gibbs shook his head fondly and continued to rock Tony, until he was no longer grizzling and whimpering,

"How do you know?" Tony sounded pathetic, and clutched at Gibbs' sleeve. The older man smiled slightly and asked,

"Would you like me to call Ducky?" There was a shake somewhere near his chest, but even if Tony didn't want Ducky to check him, Gibbs certainly did. He reached over towards the phone, and Tony just clutched on to him tighter,

"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Gibbs asked gently, scared the baby might have something serious. Thankfully, Tony shook his head and whispered,

"I don't like it." Gibbs' heart almost broke in two, but he typed the numbers into the phone with a steady hand and his voice didn't waver when he said,

"Ducky?"

_"Aah, Jethro, what can I do for you?"_

"Duck, Tony doesn't feel well. I think it could be teething, but I just want to double check." He could feel Ducky nodding down the phone,

_"I'll come down now dear boy, just give me a moment and I'll be there faster than you can say..." _Gibbs put the phone down and stood up, bouncing Tony up and down and pacing about, hoping the movement would help calm Tony down. He did eventually, but started to whine again when the doorbell went,

"It's open Duck!" Gibbs yelled from where he'd been sat for the past five minutes. Ducky peeped through the door and smiled gently at the sight, as Gibbs was almost getting Tony to sleep, although he seemed to be trying to fight it.

"Hello Anthony. Jethro says you don't feel well?" He said softly, bending down so he could look Tony in the eyes. He got a shake, and asked quietly,

"And what doesn't feel nice?" Tony sniffed miserably and said,

"My gums hurt, and I've been drooling alot, and my nose is runny."

"He's really warm as well Duck." Gibbs pointed out, rubbing Tony's back soothingly. Ducky nodded and studied Tony for a moment before saying,

"Now just open up a bit... there's a lad, let's just see..." He looked into Tony's mouth, and gently touched the top gum, rubbing it slightly. Tony didn't seem to appreciate that, and brought his mouth to a close, bringing what few teeth he had around Ducky's finger,

"Tony!" Gibbs yelled, bouncing him up a bit on his lap, "Apologise!"

"It's quite alright Jethro," Ducky said, merely wiping his finger on a handkerchief he had on him, "He's probably going to do that, teething infants can be quite irritable. Yes, his canines are coming in, so he may be cranky for a while, I wouldn't advise that little outing you have tomorrow. When babies teethe, they become quite clingy, wanting more attention, so maybe sending him out for the day with Caitlin isn't the best option, he's rather attached to you. I'd also advise some Tylenol and something for him to chew on, that may make him more tolerable."

Gibbs chuckled and nodded, not bothering telling Ducky he already knew it all. He ran his fingers through Tony's hair and felt the boy rest against him, tired out but still fidgeting. Ducky bid them both goodnight and left, letting Gibbs go into the kitchen and rummage in the cupboard, glad he'd bought some children's strength Tylenol.

"Open wide Tony." He whispered, gently giving him a spoonful, plus a cup of juice to wash it down with. While he was drinking, Gibbs left the room and found the teething ring he'd bought. Not having been gone for even three minutes, he could already hear Tony's whines, calling him back, needing affection. He happily gave it to the kid, scooping him up and jiggling about slightly, calming the baby as he chewed the ring, drooling all over it but calmer now than he had been half an hour ago.

"I think you should have an early night Tony, you look shattered." Tony shook his head firmly, but was already being taken upstairs, and changed into his pyjamas. However, Gibbs sighed some more as he'd forgotten the other symptoms of teething. Diarrhoea . It wasn't that bad, but it was bad enough to put the poor kid into discomfort and he start whining all over again. Knuckling his forehead Gibbs breathed out slowly. He promised himself not to loose his temper, it definitely wasn't Tony's fault, and it was 10 times worse for him than the older man. Gibbs had only just realised how much work Shannon had done with Kelly. He'd taken his fair share, certainly, but it never seemed like much if there was someone there to help you.

"Sssh, Tony, I know... I know, shh, it's ok, it'll be better in the morning." Gibbs whispered in Tony's ear as he held him tight, next to his chest, patting the baby's back and stroking his head. Soon, he'd calmed down enough to be put in the crib, immediately chewing the toy Gibbs had given him. Gibbs smiled sadly and turned the light off, turning the baby monitor on as he went out the room, towards the basement.

--

Gibbs was shattered. He'd been up and down the stairs more times than he could count. Forever soothing the baby and changing him, whispering comforting words into his ears and wiping his face with a cold flannel when he got too hot. Now, it was six in the morning, and Gibbs had come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be able to spend any time on his boat, opting to instead sit next to the crib on a wicker chair. He'd stayed alert all night, and went to the side of the cot in a flash, but now he was tired and had fallen into a gentle snooze, his mouth open slightly.

Tony once again awoke from an uncomfortable sleep, hands wrapped around the bars, still too hot. The pain in his mouth had subsided slightly, but now he still had to put up with the snotty nose, diarrhoea and he still felt really scared whenever there wasn't someone near him,

"Gibbs?" He asked softly, seeing the man through the bars. He grunted slightly and woke up, his eyes opening slowly until he registered where he was and was right next to the baby again,

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

"I'm too hot," He whimpered, "And my nose is still runny, and my backside's really sore..." He stopped, guessing Gibbs got the message. It was incredible really. The man didn't even complain, and gave Tony a genuine smile as he lifted the baby out, over to the changing table. He felt Gibbs run a hand through his hair and say to him,

"Looks like we've got a touch of diaper rash here kiddo, I need some cream for that." Tony nodded miserably, watching as Gibbs ducked down for a second, popping up a second later with a tub,

"Kate bought all sorts." He said, in response to Tony's expression. He gently rubbed it on, stopping when he sensed it hurt the baby, continuing when the pain subsided. Finally he'd finished, and with a fresh diaper on, and no longer wearing a sleeping suit, Tony felt ready to face the world.

"Can I wear something thin?" He asked, "I mean, something that isn't as stuffy as that suit." Gibbs brought him over to the wardrobe and admonished,

"You should have said Tony, I'd have found something else for you to wear."

"I didn't want to be a bother." He answered quietly, still clutching at Gibbs who was searching the cupboard, feeling the need for physical contact. Gibbs stopped and turned around, having deposited Tony on the floor beforehand. Crouching down, Gibbs said,

"Tony. You aren't a bother. You got that? I don't mind, whatever happens, as long as you're ok."

"You sure?" Tony asked softly, hardly daring to believe it. Gibbs nodded and gave him a small chuck under the chin before saying,

"I found quite a thin white top, I think it's cotton, and those red dungarees, they're thin, and they work like shorts, so you'll be cooler."

"Find any different underwear?" Tony asked drily, prodding at the diaper, "This is really doesn't let my body breathe." Gibbs smiled at him, but didn't say anything as he started to dress Tony. When he was done, he took the baby downstairs, saying,

"Breakfast?"

--

Gibbs ground his teeth, tapping his spoon off the table, trying to get rid of his anger. He knew Tony wasn't doing it on purpose, but it was so irritating. At first the kid had asked for cornflakes, and when he was given them, he pushed them around the bowl a bit with his spoon, not feeling like eating much. Gibbs had even tried to feed him, eventually resorting to making plane noises, but still Tony had stood firm, and whined whenever the spoon came near him, not opening his mouth and covering his eyes, resting his elbows on the tray.

It was with a certain amount of desperation that he picked his phone up, and pressed speed dial,

_"You're on the air!"_

"Hey Abbs."

_"Gibbs! How're you? And little Tony?"_

"Tony's a bit... under the weather. I got Ducky round last night and he confirmed that the kid was teething."

_"Ugh, oh god I hated it when my little brother was teething. He got the diarrhoea yet?"_

"Yup, and the fever, and the clinginess, and the being stubborn. He's refusing to eat."

_"Aww, poor baby! Have you tried giving him a cold flannel to chew? Always worked for me." _Gibbs shook his head and answered,

"I didn't try that. I'll try it later. Do me a favour and tell Kate to cancel her date."

_"Are you not coming in today?"_ Gibbs shrugged and replied,

"We'll see how he goes." He hung up and went back upstairs, heart wrenching as he heard Tony whimpering on his own in the kitchen. He grabbed the flannel that he'd used to cool the kid down and ran cold water over it again, wringing it out and going back downstairs.

"Here you go kiddo, chew on that for a while." Tony looked at him uncertainly but took it, putting it in his mouth. He perked up a tiny bit after a while and even smiled a bit,

"You want to try and eat something?" Tony shook his head, and said,

"I'll try if we go into work." Gibbs rolled his eyes,

"It depends how you feel. If you feel better in... two hours, we might go in." Tony smiled and continued to chew his flannel, the coldness dowsing the flames in his mouth. Gibbs tried to feed him again, this time with results, as Tony ate a few spoonfuls, before holding his arms up, demanding to be let out. Gibbs raised his eyebrows at this but took him, sitting on the sofa as he had the day before. Although Tony felt a bit better, he still curled up on Gibbs' lap, holding a piece of the older man's jumper in his small hand, snuggling into his body.

Soon, he was asleep, although Gibbs doubted he'd sleep for very long. He made a pact that if the kid stayed asleep for longer than an hour, they'd go into work. He passed the time merely watching Tony, stroking his hair and rubbing his back, and was soon almost asleep himself before the kid soon woke back up, yawning and saying,

"Can I have my flannel?" Gibbs grinned at him, and went to get it, taking Tony with him as the baby didn't want to be parted from him. Glancing at the clock, it appeared nearly two hours had gone by, so keeping his promise to Tony, he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, taking the baby and his flannel with him.

**Special thanks to Crying Cowgirl for the help with the teething thing ^^ (Hope it sounds believable-ish ;)) Review? I'm quite proud of the length of this chapter ^^ xx**


	15. Chapter 15

**(8) 'Coz we are living, in a material world, and I am a material girl... Lol, gotta love Madonna ;) Anywho, thanks for all the reviews ^^ I really, really, really appreciate them :)  
I shamelessly used Gibbslet's idea in this chapter, coz it rocked ;)  
Plus, Poppy784's idea. You should be a spy :P**

Many agent's mouths dropped open as they saw Special Agent Gibbs walk through the building. He was holding a baby in a very gentle manner, bouncing him slightly and rubbing his back softly. Also, the baby happened to be chewing on a flannel. Some of them quirked their eyebrows, perhaps thinking that the baby was only allowed a flannel as a toy when being looked after by Gibbs.

"You wanna take a picture?" He asked sarcastically, as they all glanced at him when they got to his floor. Quickly, they all shook their heads and got back to work. Gibbs grinned and made his way towards his desk,

"Gibbs! Abby said you wouldn't be in today." Kate exclaimed in surprise as he turned the corner into the bullpen. McGee looked up as well, his brow furrowed,

"Why is Tony chewing a flannel?" Gibbs glanced up as he set Tony down while putting the bag on the floor,

"Didn't Abby tell you?" McGee blanched and looked over at Kate quizzically,

"He just got in," She explained to Gibbs, before saying to McGee, "Tony's teething, so you have to extra nice to him today. Abby's words." She added, seeing the look she got off all three males.

"You changed the date time?" Gibbs asked her, causing McGee to look at her blankly again,

"Yeah, he said he completely understands, and said how's Friday?" Gibbs contemplated this, before answering,

"Three days from now. Should be ok. McGee!"

"Yes Boss?"

"I want you to find out _everything _about Lacey. From which hospital he was born in, to where he went to school, all until present." Gibbs had a toddler trying to crawl up his leg at this point, so it was quite hard to take his order seriously, but McGee sat down and started to type furiously at his computer. The older man quickly scooped up Tony before the boy did himself an injury on his desk. He was in such a desperate need for affection that he couldn't bear not be getting physical attention at any time.

Gibbs quickly worked out a system, where he would continually rub Tony's back, like he would if the kid was upset. This would soothe him enormously, and when Tony started to curl up slightly on his lap, and start to cuddle into his stomach, Gibbs actually got some work done.

Suddenly, his phone rang, causing Tony to stir from sleep and moan, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself closer to Gibbs,

"Gibbs, what?!"

_"No need to take that tone with me Jethro, I'm merely calling to say that I've done our petty officer's autopsy."_

"Sorry, Duck, I'm a little stressed. I'll be right down."

_"Bring Anthony with you, I'd like to see how he's doing."_ Gibbs shrugged and put the phone down, taking Tony towards the elevators.

--

Gibbs had to walk back to the bullpen just before he got in the elevator, sensing how uncomfortable the kid was, and grabbed the diaper bag. Tony just stuck his head in Gibbs' shoulder and moaned slightly, leading Gibbs to take pity on him and wait until they got down to autopsy to change him,

"Alright if I do it on the table Duck?" Gibbs asked as the M.E hastily covered the body up until Tony was out of sight,

"Go right ahead Jethro, the tables are all sterilized. How is the boy?"

"Mending," Gibbs said, relieved at how Tony wasn't as warm as he had been, and the diarrhoea was nearly gone, "Bit clingy." He smiled at the baby, hoping he'd see it was a joke, but he'd fallen asleep, sucking his thumb and his flannel, completely exhausted. Gibbs smiled fondly, his smile seeming to light the cold room, and to Ducky it felt like Jethro had his wife and daughter back. However, this cosy scene wouldn't reveal what had happened exactly, so Ducky coughed and said,

"Jethro, however asleep he is, I'd rather do this away from his eyes, so if you could..." He gestured out the doors to the elevator, "I'm sure Abby could watch him for a few minutes." Gibbs looked torn between wanting to have Tony close, and wanting to spare him from a grisly scene. Eventually, Ducky made the choice for him, gently plucking Tony from off the table, now clean and dry again and put him in Gibbs' arms,

"Take him to Abby dear boy."

--

"Hey! Gib..." Abby was stopped by a hand put over her mouth and Gibbs then removing it to put it into the shushing gesture on his own lips. He motioned down to Tony, who was still fast asleep,

"He didn't get much sleep last night." Abby's face switched to distraught in just a mere blink that Gibbs thought her face might be computer generated,

"Aw! I completely forgot, is he ok? Did you get the fever down? Are you giving him plenty of fluids, so he doesn't get ill from the diarrhoea? Are you making sure you don't give him a hard time? Of course you won't, you're Gibbs, and he's Tony, so..." Gibbs passed Tony over to her without speaking, making sure he was getting physical contact all the while. As soon as Tony started to snuggle up to Abby happily, he crept out, whispering,

"I'll be with Ducky, so try not to disturb us unless it's important."

"Medical emergency, limbs dropping off, that kind of thing?" Abby was familiar with Gibbs' rules about disturbing him, but his answer surprised her,

"If he doesn't feel very well, or if he needs me in anyway. You know where I am." She merely nodded, with her mouth slightly open as he went out. Still, she soon recovered, and cuddled Tony happily, grinning as she saw the flannel almost falling out of his mouth,

"Here baby, let me make it colder for you." With some tricky positioning, she managed to hold him comfortably while running cold water over it. Wringing it out as Gibbs had done, she offered it back, nearer to his mouth, and smiled as he took it automatically and squeezed her hand protectively, as if checking she was still there,

"I'm not going anywhere sweetie." She said to him, hugging him again, before realising that she was stood there with an adorable baby and no way she'd be able to work. In a minute however, she relaxed and rested herself comfortably on the floor, with Tony on her lap. She, like Gibbs, didn't get bored, she merely watched Tony sleep, stroking his head and crooning small lullabies into his ear.

--

An echoing crash resounded through the autopsy room, as Palmer, nervous as Gibbs constantly breathed down his neck, crashed into him, causing Gibbs to catch the side of his head on a table. Ducky tutted and let Gibbs yell at Palmer until the young man needed to change his trousers, before intervening,

"Mr Palmer, do me a favor and start on our next visitor, I'm going to have take Jethro to hospital."

"The hell you are Duck, I need to get to work." Ducky stood firm, his arms folded in front of his chest,

"That head wound requires stitches Jethro, and I don't have the proper treatment here. Trust me, I'd keep you here if I did. And don't even try to persuade me!" He added, as Gibbs opened his mouth angrily, "You need to be in full working condition to look after young Anthony, and he needs you right now."

This seemed to persuade Gibbs entirely. He shut his mouth and nodded, going up in the elevator. Just as the elevator was about to open, Gibbs exclaimed,

"Tony! He needs to know what happened! So does Abby, what if he wakes up and she can't find me? They'll both be nervous wrecks!" Ducky had to pull Gibbs out of the elevator and said,

"We'll tell Caitlin, she'll tell Abby." Gibbs didn't look convinced for a second, and he tried to pull back into the elevator, but Ducky stood firm, walking over to Kate's desk,

"My dear girl," He started, "I'm afraid Jethro needs to go into hospital for some stitches. Will you please let Abigail know? Anthony's with her, and he'll need to know." Kate gawped at them for a while before calling Abby, gazing at both men retreating towards the elevator once more.

"Abbs? It's Kate."

_"Kate! Hi! What can I do for the guys upstairs?" _Kate managed a chortle and said,

"Ducky's had to take Gibbs to hospital, he said he needed stitches. He told me to let you know so that if Tony wakes up..."

_"WHAT?!!" _Came a loud yell down the phone, immediately followed by a louder one as Abby had doubtless woken Tony up, _"Aw heck," _Abby moaned, and Kate guessed she was probably rocking the baby, _"Oh no baby it's ok, don't cry, come on baba. I'm sorry, Abby didn't mean to scare you..." _

Kate laughed, imagining what Tony was thinking about the babyish names, but then guessed that he'd gone to Tony Junior, as the way Abby talked to him would probably shrink him.

_"Kate, I'm coming up, he's... he's in a right state, he just wants Gibbs."_

"How do you know?" Kate asked, intrigued. She guessed Abby put the phone near Tony, who was yelling loudly, mixed with hiccoughing from the crying,

_"Daddy!!! Da-dyyy!!!" _Kate bit her lip. This wasn't good. The only person to solve this was Gibbs, who was obviously out. And she didn't think they should bring a screaming baby into the hospital. Abby hung up, and Kate flinched as she realised that meant she'd be coming up here. She stood up and said,

"McGee, Abby's coming up here with Tony, we're going to see Gibbs," He nodded, knowing there was more, "He's Tony Junior at the moment though," She explained, "And is practically screaming for Gibbs, we need to try and calm him down." McGee gulped slightly, and a few quiet moments passed before they heard the yelling coming up in the elevator,

"Da-Deeee!" The cries had become more desperate, and Tony was howling, causing every agent in the room to look over in interest. Abby came over looking pale, worried about Gibbs _and _Tony,

"I'm sorry Kate," She said, "I can't calm him, and I made it worse by changing him, he's teething, and one of the symptoms is..."

"Abby, I know," She said gently. Then, a thought came to her, "Wouldn't it be better if we made him Tony again? Got him out of Tony Junior?" Abby nodded, but said,

"I've tried, I tried shouting like Gibbs, I even tried a tiny miniature head-slap, but I can't get him out. Oh Kate, what if he's stuck like this?!" Kate put her hands on Abby's shoulders and said,

"Don't worry Abbs, it'll be fine. I guess we'll have to take him to Gibbs." Abby nodded and at once passed the still bawling Tony to Kate, and pulled out her phone. She pressed a button and after a while hung up, shaking her head,

"He's not answering." Kate nodded grimly and passed Tony over to McGee and said,

"Hold him 'till we get to the car McGee." He looked gobsmacked and squeaked out,

"Why?!"

"Because maybe he'll stop if he has something different to chew on."

--

In no way did Tony quieten down during the journey. He wailed, whined, waved his arms around (Consequently hitting McGee in the face. Alot.) and wriggling around so much he almost fell on the floor.

"I think it's Separation Anxiety," Abby said, full of knowledge, "If he's separated from his main carer i.e Gibbs, he'll become restless, and will be more prone to tantrums and the like. And I think that the reason he can't get out of Tony Junior, is because he's gotten himself so wound up. Haven't you sweetie?" She turned around and looked at Tony, who was still sobbing pathetically and now mumbling the word 'Daddy' over and over.

She felt so bad that she couldn't do anything, she let a few tears go herself, thinking how awful it must be for Tony, the thing he loved and trusted most in his life (In Tony Junior's life anyway.) was Gibbs, and now he wasn't here, and the poor baby couldn't understand why.

"Are we nearly there?" She asked Kate, who was driving as though she'd been taught by Gibbs,

"Yep, we're just nearing the car park."

As soon as the car stopped all passengers emptied quickly, all going crazy at the sound of the baby's desperate crys,

"C'mon the accident and emergency is that way!" Abby cried out, pulling at Kate who was locking the car, and taking Tony out of McGee's hands, who looked as though he was going to pass out.

--

Gibbs looked up to Ducky from the chair he was sat on while the nurse tried to stitch him up, eyes twinkling,

"Can you hear something, Duck?" Ducky cocked his head and smiled,

"I believe your boy doesn't want to be parted from you Jethro." Gibbs chuckled as the sound of a screaming baby ripped through the department. Gibbs smiled as he realized that nothing would stop Tony from finding him, and he was good at manipulating (Although torture might have been a better word at this point) his co-workers into getting him there. He tried not to smile when he heard what Tony was screaming, although he almost didn't manage it,

"Daddy!!" The nurser who was stitching him said,

"Goodness, what a racket! Is he your son?" She asked, as the noise was getting closer. He nodded grimly and she blushed slightly, but didn't say anything as the troupe finally made their way into the cubicle,

"Gibbs!" Abby said happily, and had to struggle, even though he was only 18 months old, against Tony, who was trying desperately to reach Gibbs,

"Daddy!" Gibbs smiled indulgently at him, and allowed the boy to climb onto his lap as the last stitch was put into place. He cuddled the boy, rolling his eyes as everyone smiled at them,

"Guess you missed me, huh?" Tony didn't say anything, and continued to snuggle into him, still hiccoughing slightly from the sobs. Gibbs ran his fingers through Tony's hair, who was obviously still upset at having been away from Gibbs for so long,

"We tried to get him back to Tony rather than Tony Junior," Abby explained, waiting until the nurse had left, "But he wouldn't. I think the trauma..."

"Trauma, Abbs?" Gibbs asked quietly as Tony started to snuffle and chew at his hand slightly,

"Yes Gibbs, trauma. He was terrified. He didn't know where you were, or what had happened, and I think he was so wound up he couldn't go back to Tony." Gibbs wondered if he should have a go now. Although... Tony was quite endearing as he was now... No. He cast that thought aside quickly, and after another cuddle he barked out (Making everyone else jump),

"DiNozzo!" The baby jumped as well and answered,

"Yeah Boss! I... what happened to your face?" Gibbs smiled and said,

"Palmer crashed me into a table."

"That fuc...er," He paused, as Abby and Gibbs raised their eyebrows at him, "I mean... that darn autopsy gremlin! I'll get him for you Boss, you say the word." Gibbs chuckled and said,

"The nurse said I'm good to go. What say we go to the cafe or something?" Tony smiled and asked,

"Can I have a biscuit?" Gibbs ruffled his hair and replied,

"How're your gums and everything?" Tony considered this. They actually didn't feel that bad. He was quite tired though, and he supposed he had a bit of a headache from the screaming fit (He hadn't been able to help it though). It would be useless trying to lie to Gibbs, so he relayed this information, and waited.

"We should get you home," Gibbs decided, "I know of a certain baby who hasn't a good night's sleep in quite a long time." Tony blushed and, obviously for lack of something better to do, started to chew at his hands again. Gently pulling them out of his mouth, Gibbs reached into his pocket and pulled out the dummy he'd bought when they went shopping. Immediately Tony clamoured for it, and asked Kate, who was looking at him oddly as he started sucking,

"What's'a matter Kate, you never seen a baby with a dummy before?" She laughed and patted his head. After a short conversation, it was decided that Gibbs should go home with Tony, as Ducky said he'd tell the Director that Gibbs wasn't focusing too well after the head wound.

"Bye baby! Look after your Poppa for me, he's not well," Tony laughed and nodded at Abby, "Play doctors or something!" She suggested excitedly, which reminded Gibbs of the picture he took of Tony when he was dressing up,

"Speaking of playing," He brought up, causing them all to look at him, "I found _someone _playing what looked to be dress up the other day." Everyone spluttered with laughter, and Tony blushed, hitting Gibbs' arm as hard as he could,

"He made a good marine," Gibbs added, mostly for Tony's benefit. Quickly, he passed Tony over to Kate, saying, "Go get to the car." She nodded and walked off, as McGee started to talk to Ducky as they strolled out of the hospital,

"What d'you wanna say Bossman?" Abby asked, knowing Gibbs would want to say something to her when it was private,

"Just thought I'd tell you I took a photo of it." Her eyes glittered and she replied,

"Gibbs, I'm impressed! As well as the fact you finally admitted he was cute, you worked out the camera on your phone!" Gibbs laughed and joked,

"Maybe we can take loads and give him a photo album, pretend he'd always had it." Abby's eyes lit up,

"Gibbs! That's a fantastic idea! I'll sort it all out, don't worry. This is gonna be perfect!" Gibbs snorted as they reached everyone stood around the two cars, his and Kate's.

"I suppose we'll go back to NCIS in mine." Kate said shrewdly, to which Gibbs nodded and said,

"I'm going to take Tiny over there home." Tony giggled and held out his arms, waiting for Gibbs to pick him up.

**I didn't think that was one of the best chapters, but hey-ho :( Review? xx**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey :) Thanks for all the incredible reviews, I'm so sorry I haven't replied to many, but I haven't got the time :( Please bear in mind I read them alland take them all to heart ^^ And to those people worried about the case itself, don't sweat, there will be progress eventually, but I really like focusing on Tony and Gibbs ;)  
Also, the soft toys used in this chapter are Beanie Babies, if that helps you imagine it better ;)**

"Tony, you've been whining for about half an hour now, what do you want?" Tony blushed, not realising he'd been making any noise. To be honest, he wasn't really aware what he'd been whining about.

"Er, can I..." He just gave up, not knowing what to ask for. Gibbs rolled his eyes but put the paper down that he'd been trying to read and looked down to the floor, where Tony had been sat, extremely close by as always, quietly using the soft toys Abby had brought round to make a crime scene. He shook his head and asked,

"Hey Gibbs, betcha' can't tell who did it!" Gibbs grinned and looked down. A dog was lying on the ground surrounded by yellow crayons (Presumably being used as crime scene tape) and several other soft toys (A German Shepherd, a slightly nervous looking hamster with bulging eyes, a mangy looking brown dog and a peacock).

"They're the investigators," He told Gibbs, pointing to them, "And those," He said, pointing to a line up of various animals, "Are the suspects. The dog," He waved to the 'dead' toy, "Was found at 0500 by a neighbour. He died at about 0400."

"You got an M.E to tell you that kid?" Gibbs asked, sounding amused. Tony nodded and replied,

"Yup, over there," He nodded to an owl sat a bit further away, and continued, "The forensics expert," He now pointed to a black panther, "Said that a bullet found at the scene was shot, but not at a body, and the M.E confirmed that, the victim had an overdose."

"So the bullet was a red herring," Gibbs humoured him, nodding, before asking, "What did he overdose on?"

"Er..." It was clear Tony hadn't thought of this bit, "Cough syrup." Gibbs chuckled and asked,

"Out of the big alphabet soup mix, who're investigating?"

"The FBI started," Tony told him, pointing to a rather tired looking rat sat in a corner, "But they found a navy suspect, so NCIS got jurisdiction."

"Why did the FBI start?"

"'Cause they're always trying to steal out cases, bast..." He glanced at Gibbs again, "Ah... 'cause the victim was... married to someone who got Christmas cards off the President's PA." Gibbs snorted and asked,

"You finished briefing me yet?" Tony nodded and asked,

"Guess who did it."

"You never _guess_ a suspect Tony, you have to get the evidence..."

"I've got the evidence. I know who did it, _you_ have to guess, and I'll tell you whether you've got it right or not." Tony sounded rather impatient now, so Gibbs looked Tony's line-up up and down and finally pointed to a monkey,

"Him." Tony's mouth fell open,

"How did you guess? I've got nearly a gazillion suspects!" He hadn't realised this slip into childish language, so Gibbs acted as though it hadn't happened, although slightly scared that Tony may slip into Tony Junior for good. He merely smirked and said,

"So who're the investigators?" Tony blushed slightly but pointed to each in turn,

"That's McGee, the hamster, and Kate's the..."

"Shi-zu." Gibbs finished for him, smiling at the memory. Tony nodded and added,

"And you're the German Shepherd, Ducky's the owl, and Abby's the panther."

"You missed one DiNozzo."

"I'm the peacock." Tony mumbled. Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and asked,

"Why?"

"Pretty to look at, shows off around the ladies, but once it's initial function has been used, it kinda wilts into the background." Gibbs felt rage well up inside him. He picked Tony up, careful not to disturb the 'crime scene',

"Tony," He started, bouncing the baby up and down on his lap, "You could never wilt into the background. You're always there, wherever I go, and you're a damn good agent. You're never going to be past your sell-by date, or whatever the hell you're talking about, so cut the BS now." Tony nodded, but still looked over at the toy peacock pretty doubtfully. Sighing, Gibbs grabbed a different toy and put it in the place of the peacock,

"There, happier?" He nodded and saw Gibbs get a camera out,

"You moved to the modern world Boss?" He asked, tongue in cheek, "Finally figured out that digital cameras are easier to use than those old ones that had smoke coming out of them?"

"Funny guy, you could have been a comedian. I thought you might like some pictures of this crime scene, seeing as it's better than some of the ones we get now." Tony frowned, but Gibbs could see him struggling with himself. He knew how much Tony wanted to have some kind of a record of his childhood, but he knew that Tony was also very proud, and stubborn, and would get embarrassed.

"Tony?" The baby looked up and he smiled, his mind made up,

"'Kay." Gibbs smiled and lowered him back on the floor, taking a picture of the kid's crime scene, with Tony himself there, laughing happily as he pretended to read the monkey his rights.

Their soft toy alter egos sat behind him, a German Shepherd puppy sat instead of a peacock.

--

Predictably, soon after this, Tony was bored. Gibbs didn't look like he was doing all that much, so Tony toddled over to him, remembering what Abby had said to him just as they were leaving the hospital,

"How're you feeling?" He asked, trying to clamber up onto the couch, in the end having to be be picked up and put there. He very gently and carefully ran his finger over the stitches, counting them. Gibbs grimaced and said,

"I've been better kiddo, but I'm mending." Tony looked downcast for a moment, before asking,

"Wanna play a game?" The older man rolled his eyes and smiled,

"What kind?"

"Hostipals!" Gibbs chuckled,

"I think you mean _hospitals_,Tony." The baby just shrugged and asked,

"Want me to be your doctor?" Gibbs shrugged back and replied,

"I guess I'm going to have to settle for you DiNozzo, there's no one else here." Tony grinned before rummaging around in a pile of toys.

Since he had moved in here, the toy amount seemed to have grown substantially, Tony being the most spoilt baby in D.C. What used to be two soft toys, a musical mat, and some colouring books and crayons, had turned into what seemed like thousands of soft toys, and various other plastic toys suitable for 18 month olds. People dropped in every day with something new, on the pretence of seeing Gibbs about a case, but then offering Tony something, which he'd take with a grin, and (after a pointed look from Gibbs), a 'thankyou'.

Ducky had brought him a play medic set, joking that when Tony grew up he may want to follow in his Uncle Ducky's footsteps and be in the medical profession. Tony had giggled, and claimed that he didn't want to move from the 'best job in the world'.

Taking this doctors kit out now, Tony felt like changing his mind. Everyone trusted Doctors, and looked up to them. It was a really respected profession.

"I think 'Doctor DiNozzo' sounds almost as good as, 'Special Agent DiNozzo'." Tony said, as he fiddled with the opening of the box, eventually having Gibbs open it for him. He pulled out a toy stethoscope and said,

"I need to listen to your heart." Gibbs raised and eyebrow and queried,

"Why? I only hit my head." Tony rolled his eyes and stuck the stethoscope in his ears,

"Who's the doctor here?" He pretended to listen as Gibbs obediently stayed still. He put it back in the box and didn't say anything, which Gibbs took to mean bad news. His theory was proved correct a second later as Tony pulled out a plastic syringe. Gibbs' first instinct was to hit it out of the baby's hands before he hurt himself, before laughing softly. It was a _toy_. He was getting _way _too over protective.

"Hold out your arm." Tony ordered, looking grim. Gibbs tuck his arm out and rolled the shirt sleeves up. Instead of taking something out, Tony apparently stuck something in.

"What was that, 'Doctor DiNozzo'?" He asked, pulling his shirt sleeve down again as Tony got off the couch. The baby grinned and turned to look at him, before snickering and saying,

"It's crazy medicine Boss, stops you going into one of your moods." Gibbs raised an eyebrow, slowly getting up off the sofa,

"Oh really?" He asked, looking quite menacing as he loomed over Tony. The baby started to giggle nervously before deciding it wasn't worth it and ran off. Gibbs took chase, but Tony was a lot faster than he'd first thought. It took him precisely six minutes to find the kid and catch him, trying hard not to laugh. Tony's childish giggling was so damn infectious.

"Wait, where are we going?" Tony had calmed down enough to realise he wasn't being taken back to the living room, which contained all the fun stuff he and Gibbs could do together,

"You haven't had a bath in quite a while Tony, you don't want people to think you've caught the plague do you?"

Funny." Tony remarked drily,

"I thought so." His boss replied, giving him an overly cheery grin as he went into the bathroom, depositing Tony on the closed toilet lid while he started to run the bath.

--

"I was never allowed nice baths," Tony stated, as Gibbs softly washed his hair, again one hand on his back, "The water was either too warm or too cold, and I was lonely." The hand rubbing his head stopped for a minute, before Gibbs asking quietly,

"You were _alone_ when you had baths?"

"Well, no, but I could never really make great conversation with the Nanny. I mean, she was great and all, but as soon as there was no danger of me drowning she had to go make the beds or something. So I never had anyone to play with."

"So what did you do?" Gibbs was interested, Tony never really talked about his childhood much,

"I just sat there really. Watched the bubbles pop. Not a lot you can do in a bath." Gibbs ground his teeth as he remembered how much fun Kelly had when it was her bath time. When she was little, him and Shannon always sat in there with her, fooling around, telling her stories, blowing bubbles with her, and when she was older, and she didn't need them in there anymore, she still had daft games, even if they made no sense. She loved having baths.

"No one even ever give you a bath toy or anything?" Tony shook his head,

"My Father didn't really see the point. It's just money that could instead be spent on more alcohol, parties and suits." He said bitterly, and the hand on his back was now rubbing it. The hand that had been washing his hair was now reaching over the side of the bath to give him something.

"Here," Gibbs dropped a rubber duck over the side of the bath, "Play." Tony looked at him doubtfully and said,

"No offense Boss, but I really don't see what I can actually do with this. I mean, all the other toys are great, but this is just a duck." Gibbs quirked an eyebrow and said,

"I'm sure you'll manage." And he did. Not in the really normal child way, as he brought in his adult memories to entertain himself,

"Aah, Mr Palmer, will you run these bloods to Abby please? And while you're up there, tell Jethro to stop adding so much bubble bath, my beak is soapy." He got a small swat on the head and grinned up at his boss.

--

"Bedtime," Gibbs said to him, as soon as he'd got Tony into his pyjamas from the bath. The baby started to pout, and Gibbs added, "How do you feel? You said at the hospital that you were tired and had a headache." Tony considered this for a moment and replied,

"I feel way better than I did last night, and the headache's gone. But I guess..."

"You're tired," Gibbs finished the sentence and said, while he headed toward the kitchen, "You know what my Dad used to do, if I couldn't sleep?" Tony shook his head, and looked up at Gibbs as he was plonked down on a counter,

"Before I went to bed, he'd give me some warm milk. It makes you feel really full, and sleepy. Want some?" Tony nodded happily, licking his lip eagerly. Gibbs grabbed the baby's sippy-cup and poured milk into it, before heating it up. When it was done, he passed it to him, who hastily took it and started to drink. The gulps became less frequent, and soon he was drinking it really slowly, eyes closing as he leant against Gibbs' stomach, whilst sat on the counter.

"_Now_it's bedtime." Gibbs said, plucking the cup from out of his young charge's grasp and gently scooped him up, knowing that if he bounced at all, Tony would easily bring all that milk straight back up.

"'M not... tired..." Tony slurred, his eyes shutting as soon as he was put in the cot, a pale blue blanket pulled over him by the older man, "Wanna stay... up with... you..." Gibbs shook his head, smiling,

"Not gonna happen DiNozzo, you need sleep." He switched the baby monitor on again, but didn't go down to the basement. He clipped the other monitor to his trouser pocket and went downstairs, clearing away the cup that had the milk in and tutting as he cleared away the mess of the toys spread around his living room. As he tidied he just smiled more, feeling warmer.

He loved having a baby in the house.

**Review? And I know this sounds slightly bizarre, but does anyone want to do a drawing of something that's happened in the story? It's just, I've seen some other stories that people have drawn pictures for, and I thought you could like, put them on deviant art and I could put the link to them on my profile. Lol, merely 'cause I thought some parts might be cute to draw... Tell me if you wanna :) I'd try, but I really can't draw lol ;) xx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thankyou for all the reviews, and well done on picking up my bizarre imagery ^^ Here's me once again stealing people's ideas ^^ Thanks amber-chick, I never would have thought of this lol :) Why do you all have such better ideas than me? :P**

Gibbs had just made his first coffee of the day. It was about half seven in the morning, and Tony had woken up nearly an hour ago. So much for his 'routine'. Maybe now he was actually getting the chance to be a proper kid, he was developing the normal sleeping pattern. Which involved waking adults up when they desperately needed sleep.

So Tony was now sat, dressed in his preferred red dungarees and a clean tee-shirt, in the living room, colouring in a brand new colouring book Gibbs had given him this morning, as Abby had come round that night, seeing that Gibbs was ok and telling him that, apparantly, 'Tony needs to be spoilt rotten'. His was sucking on the a red dummy in concentration, trying hard not to go over the lines, although he ended up always doing so, the infant side getting too much.

Gibbs smiled fondly from his position leaning against the door frame, sipping from his cup. He closed his eyes briefly as he heard a soft knock at the door. Praying to God he wasn't being called in for another case, and this was just yet one more present for the kid, he walked over, giving Tony a small smile to show him it was ok.

Opening the door, Gibbs' eyes went wide with shock, stuttering out,

"D-dad?!"

--

Jackson Gibbs was stood in front of the Special Agent, furrowing his eyebrows at the less than warm welcome. Fine, they hadn't really kept in touch, but they'd had an ok relationship, and Jack thought that his son might be quite pleased to see him, as he'd traveled quite a long way, for nothing more than a catch-up,

"Something wrong, Jethro?" He asked in a pleasant voice, gauging his son's reaction. Gibbs breathed out slightly, and said, after quickly running his hands through his hair,

"No, nothing at all, I just... wasn't expecting you. Why are you down here so early on a morning?" He hoped he asked that casually, but Jackson's eyes narrowed and he asked,

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Gibbs nodded, hoping he looked sure of himself, and stood back, holding the door open for his Dad to come in. The man hesitated for a moment before stepping in, forgetting the awkwardness that had passed. After all, it _was _still quite early. However, his son had always been an early riser, and he thought he'd have been building that damned boat right now.

"You want coffee?" Gibbs asked, trying to lure his Dad to the kitchen. However, the man just answered,

"Yeah, black. Thanks." And wandered into the front room, going to sit down. Gibbs groaned as he heard his Dad stop suddenly in the doorway. He didn't say anything, just merely stared curiously at the baby that was sat colouring in on his son's floor. The baby looked so at home as well, so it couldn't be being baby-sat, could it?

"Jethro?" He called over his shoulder, causing the baby to finally look up, having been immersed in his drawing. He froze as he saw a man that had an odd look on his face that really reminded him of someone, though he couldn't remember who. His eyes widened and he didn't do anything until Gibbs came into the room, and said,

"Dad, this is...Abby's nephew. You remember Abby?" The man nodded and replied,

"But why is he staying with you?"

"The lab's backed up, so I told her I'd look after him for today." Jackson nodded, his eyes narrowing suspiciously, and that's when it clicked in Tony's head. Of course it was Gibbs' dad. They looked quite similar, stood next to each other you could tell they were father and son, especially when they had the same expression. Eventually, Jackson spoke,

"So what's his name?" Gibbs ran through random names in his head, before deciding he couldn't be bothered, and he knew either him or Tony would forget and slip-up, so he just answered,

"Tony." Jackson nodded and went to sit down in an armchair, leaving Gibbs to sink into the couch. The older man chuckled,

"He kept you up?" Gibbs ran a hand over his face and replied,

"He's teething, though not as bad as he was a couple of days ago." Jackson nodded again and lapsed into a thoughtful silence, as Tony tried to get back to his colouring in, though it was extraordinarily hard going with two people watching him. Well, Gibbs he didn't mind, but Gibbs' dad. It was weird, to say the least.

"What about your boy at work? Isn't his name Tony? Your senior... agent?"

"Senior Field Agent," Gibbs corrected, before nodding, "Yeah, DiNozzo was quite proud when he heard Abby's nephew had the same name. Sulked for a while when he found out Abby had called the kid it for a joke - but then it stuck and the parent's named him Tony." Gibbs was amazed at the lie that just rolled off his tongue, while Tony glanced up at Gibbs. When had Gibbs ever spoken to his Dad? And when he had, why was it about him? Though Jackson hadn't remembered his name very well, maybe he'd just been mentioned in passing...

"So? How's work?"

"Wouldn't know," Gibbs owned up, "Haven't been there in quite a while, went to the hospital yesterday, and haven't really gone in much since..." He paused, almost head-slapping himself as he realised how easily he almost slipped up. However, he left the sentence hanging, running it back through his head and realising it sounded fine on its' own.

Tony sighed. He was getting _so _bored. Jackson kept looking at him, and he was put off so much he couldn't concentrate on the colouring. And for some reason he felt the need to be inconspicuous, so he didn't really want to get up and walk somewhere to do something else. However, the conversation Gibbs and his Dad were having was boring and grown-up, so Tony hadn't really wanted to pay any atten... Woah, had he just though that? Had he really thought that Gibbs' conversation was too _grown up_ for him to listen to?

Shaking his head, he realised he needed to get out of the room. Just for a small toddle round the house, that's all. So, he managed to stand up and gave Gibbs a small glance before turning and walking out. However, he didn't count on a hand being snaked across his waist,

"Jethro, come on, you should be used to this! How old is this kid?"

"18 months..."

"You can't let him just toddle off on his own! He could do anything!" Gibbs attempted to stick up for himself, and Tony,

"He's not stupid Dad, he won't try and stick his finger in a socket or anything, will you?" He asked sharply, giving Tony a small glare, to which the kid replied, wihtout thinking,

"No Boss." Both man and baby froze, and Jackson turned to stare at his son,

"How much have you indoctrinated this kid Jethro? Actually getting him to call you Boss, and you've been looking after him for, what - a day?" Gibbs didn't really know what to say and instead went to take Tony off his Dad,

"I'll keep him here then. So go on, what happened with...?" Again, he was back on the grown-up talk! Tony sat there moodily on Gibbs' lap as his Boss and Gibbs Sr. talked. He knew Jackson kept shooting him odd glances now again, so Tony thought it best to just not do anything. Instead, he sucked at the red dummy that was still in his mouth, and leaning against Gibbs, who had started to run his fingers through the baby's hair, and to stroke his head,

"You know," Jackson said, thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever seen an 18 month old sit still for so long." Taking that as his cue, Tony tugged at Gibbs' sleeve and muttered,

"Hungry." He hadn't meant to sound like a brat or anything, really. But he guessed if Gibbs' Sr. did actually hear him, then it wouldn't matter. His Boss nodded and stood up, saying,

"You want anything while I'm there Dad?" Jackson shook his head, still narrowing his eyes at Tony as he was taken out, who gulped nervously. He relayed his fears to Gibbs when they were safely in the kitchen and out of Jackson's hearing range,

"Gibbs, I'm serious, I think he's guessed I'm not a normal baby." Gibbs shrugged as he passed Tony a bowl full of small pieces of fruit,

"Then just act more like a baby." Tony scowled at him, popping a small peice of apple into his mouth,

"I can't really turn it on and off Gibbs, I'm not a machine." His boss smirked and said,

"_I_ can."

"I know. Don't remind me," A thought hit him, just then, so into it that he didn't spot Gibbs' warning signs or hear the creaking in the hall as Jackson came towards the room, "How about you just put me into 'Tony Junior' mode? Then I'll just act... normally, I suppose. Then when he's gone, I can be my version of normal?" Gibbs almost head slapped him as Jackson entered the room fully and asked,

"What the hell is going on Jethro?" Tony cowered slightly and put the piece of banana he was about to eat back in the bowl and held his arms out, hoping Gibbs would take him out of the high chair. Gibbs did so, and when Tony was safely nestled in his arms he said,

"Something odd happened when we went to apprehend a suspect Dad. DiNozzo ran after him and when he got him pinned the guy sort of...reversed it and had him pinned."

"Jesus," Gibbs Sr. said, forgetting about the situation at hand for a second, "Is he ok? I know how much you care about him." A _very _faint blush rose to Gibbs' face but he answered,

"The guy made him swallow a tablet... it kind of... did something to him." Jackson frowned, before glancing down at Tony, who was really trying not to make eye contact,

"You mean? This kid, this - this is DiNozzo?" Gibbs nodded solemnly, as did Tony, who finally picked up the courage to talk to the man,

"Hiya," He flapped a hand as a poor wave and prodded Gibbs' chest slightly, "I want to go back to the living room..." Gibbs nodded and bounced him slightly, saying to his Dad,

"We'll talk more in the living room, poor kid's bored stiff in here." His dad let him pass, an awestruck look on his face.

--

Tony tuned out Gibbs and his father's conversation. He couldn't be bothered listening to Gibbs explain it, he'd lived through it. Instead, he found a blank page in the colouring and grinned. He could mess with Gibbs Sr.'s mind a bit. He got to work, sucking the dummy Gibbs had given him as they'd gotten back in the room as he concentrated again, choosing different crayons as he drew a picture.

Eventually he'd finished it, and toddled over to where the two men were talking again, pulling at Jackson's trouser leg and waited 'till the man was looking down at him and showed him the picture he'd drawn, albeit a bit shyly,

"Look!" Jackson gave a glance at Gibbs, who nodded and he reached down and picked up the picture. It showed three people stood at a plain background. The first was obviously Gibbs, and the second Jackson, taller and with a few more wrinkles than Gibbs (Which the ex-marine smiled at) but was drawn exactly the same. Then there was a smaller person, wearing what he was now, grinning up at them both, holding Gibbs' hand.

"Does he usually do this?" Jack asked his son, scared something about him turning pu had done something to the kid. Gibbs shook his head and said,

"No, he sometimes goes into what everyone calls 'Tony Junior', which is where the infant side overrules him completely." Jackson appeared much more relaxed now, but Gibbs could immediately tell that Tony was just Tony, so why was he drawing pictures and showing them to Jackson in such a childish, proud manner?

Was he trying to get Jackson to like him?

"Hey kiddo, it's getting quite late, what say it's bedtime?" Tony looked appalled and shook his head firmly, his mouth set determined to win this fight. Gibbs wasn't impressed and crossed his arms, standing up,

"Well, it's either that or I get Dad to put you to bed. Which one?" Tony, for some reason, although he felt tired, and wouldn't usually go against Gibbs except if he was messing with him, acted out,

"Neither!" He stamped his foot to add further to his point, and was given a short swat in the backside. Tony looked up at Jackson with shocked tears filming up in his eyes. He'd gasped and looked to Gibbs for support, but he didn't say or do anything, although Tony was sure there was a bit of distress in his eyes,

"You know, when I was small, if I ever went against my father, I'd get much worse than that. So would Jethro. So, if you argue again, I don't care how old you used to be, I'll spank you right here and right now. I won't even leave you the comfort of a diaper." Tony looked horrified and didn't say anything. Still, it didn't stop him from giving a short whine and saying to Gibbs,

"I want _you _to put me to bed." Gibbs raised an eyebrow and said,

"I think Dad should do it." Tony glared at him but still didn't say anything, apart from,

"But he's mean!" Gibbs burst out laughing, and even Jackson gave a small chuckle. Without a word, he picked Tony up and took him upstairs, guessing he was staying in the room that had once been Kelly's. He opened the door and saw that Jethro really did enjoy being a parent again. Everything was out, there was a mobile above the crib and on the walls were some of Tony's childish drawings.

He raised an eyebrow at Tony, who tried to frown, but was too tired, and this man, the more you looked at him, the more he looked like Gibbs. Instead, he settle for an exhausted grimace, and mumbled,

"Do you think Gibbs likes having me here?" Jackson quirked an eyebrow,

"What makes you ask that?" Tony mumbled something that didn't make any sense and Jackson rolled his eyes, saying,

"I'll ask him for you, ok? Go to sleep now."

"'M'kay grandpa..." Tony mumble, and fell asleep straight away, causing some unwanted tears to well up in Jackson's eyes. How long had it been since he'd been called Grandpa? Too long.

He slowly made his way down the stairs, pausing as he got to the bottom, chuckling as he saw Jethro once again tidying the mess the kid had left, smiling as he did it.

"Want some help?" Gibbs looked up and grinned,

"No I got it." Jackson nodded and said,

"Listen, I should really be getting back, so, I'm going to skedaddle." Gibbs nodded and said,

"It was good to see you Dad." Jackson beamed at him and said,

"You too Jethro, tell Tony I said the answer to his question is definitely 'Yes'. He'll get it." Gibbs nodded bemusedly before Jackson turned back from where he was on the porch,

"You know I can see in your eyes how much you care about the kid Jethro. And I know how much you love having a baby in the house again. Just, you need to tell him it, once in a while."

Gibbs furrowed his eyebrows once his Dad was gone. He did tell Tony he liked having him here didn't he? He must have done. And by now the kid must _at least _know that he cared, right?

**That's me done for the day, though I think this chapter kinda deteriorated over time. By the way, please keep in mind that I've never seen the episode with his dad in (Blushes). I've only seen up to season 4, so bare that in mind if he 'aint in character :) Review? Oh, and thanks to all those who said they'd draw pics, I'm sure they'll all be absolutely amazing and adorable ^^ x**


	18. Chapter 18

**Look at my profile! Lol, sorry about that little imperative ;) But Gibbslet drew several amazing pictures of Tony and George (And Gibbs :D); the link's on my profile ^^  
Thanks for reviews, I appreciate each and every one :)  
Warning: There're parts in this chapter that contain vomiting :) If you don't like it, skip it and tell me, and I'll give ya a brief outline of what happened :)**

Gibbs stretched out his legs happily, resisting the urge to yawn like a cat. He'd finished the tidying up of the living room (Which he still took great joy in, which he found slightly odd) and was stretched out on the sofa quite happily, watching an old sitcom on telly. He wasn't really focusing on it, his thoughts revolving around the way Tony had acted around his father.

Ok, when you first met him, Jackson could be slightly intimidating, but Tony acted like he was really trying to impress him, and not get on his bad side. Could he be trying to earn that kind of affection he never got before as a child? Was Gibbs not really giving him enough? Maybe he should talk to him more. That's why Tony tried to get so much attention off Jackson, because he needed another adult to do it, as he clearly wasn't getting that much off his boss?

Gibbs had stopped relaxing now, his thoughts jumbled up inside his head, confusing and worrying him. However, he jumped up as he heard a small moan on the baby monitor he constantly had by him. Almost running up the stairs, determined to give Tony the affection he was obviously not getting at the moment, Gibbs slid into the baby's room, pausing for half a second before hearing yet another tiny moan.

"Tony?" Gibbs approached the cot. Tony was curled up in a little ball, desperately sucking his thumb, with one arm holding his stomach, his eyes squeezing together as a few tears seeped out from beneath his eyelids,

"Tony?" Gibbs asked again, his heart beating faster than it should have done, "What's wrong?"

Tony blinked his eyes open and whimpered softly, "Hurts." Gibbs heart flipped over as he realised this was one thing he definitely didn't have any power over,

"Where exactly does it hurt DiNozzo?" Gibbs used his last name in the hopes that Tony might tell him. He knew the kid would be hesitant to tell him, embarrassed or scared of being a nuisance; so maybe if he used the name the poor kid was used to, he might spill,

"My tummy... I don't feel well." Tony croaked unhappily. However, now was 'round about the time he'd get up and hold his arms out for comfort, but he just curled up tighter, giving a little sob. At once Gibbs reached in a slowly and gently lifted him out,

"It's ok Tony... I know you don't feel well, but how about a little walk around the house?" Tony simply gave a small whimper into Gibbs' chest (He was holding the kid as he would a small baby), so Gibbs just took that as a 'Yes'. However, he only stayed to the upstairs, not wanting Tony to be jogged or anything going up or down stairs.

"Gibbs..." He moaned, and the older man instantly knew what he wanted. In a flash they were in the bathroom, and Gibbs carefully knelt down by the toilet, holding Tony close to it but still kept him near his body, offering him warmth and protection. He rubbed the kid's back softly, wincing as he heard the familiar sounds of a stomach churning sickeningly.

Very soon, Tony was emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl, sobbing weakly as the lack of sleep, how he felt, and the horrible feeling of throwing up got too much for him. All Gibbs could do was rub his back and stroke his hair, offering small words of comfort into his ears until he finally finished, leaning against his boss tiredly, but still with that horrible feeling in his stomach,

"You ok?" Gibbs asked softly, "Think you can be sat up?" Tony nodded, and was slowly brought up to a sitting position on Gibbs' knee, who was perched on the side of the bath. Not saying anything, the older man took his phone out of his pocket and pressed a speed dial, soon getting an answer,

_"Jethro! I wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight! How's your head?"_

"It's fine Duck," Gibbs replied impatiently, wincing as Tony gave a small whine and nuzzled into his shirt, "Look, I know it's quite late, but..."

_"It's only half seven Jethro." _Ducky reminded him, to which Gibbs replied,

"Sorry, I guess I've been going by Tony-time. I think it's late when he goes to bed... Anyway, I didn't call to ask what time it was! Tony's ill. He just threw up and he said his stomach hurts." Gibbs could sense Ducky shuffling up in his seat interestedly,

_"He might have caught something in the hospital yesterday Jethro, there were quite a few pale children there." _

Gibbs nodded, and asked, "Will you come? Please?"

_"Leroy Jethro Gibbs saying please? It must be urgent. I'll be there in a wink my boy." _Gibbs thanked him and put the phone down. The scene was like a playback, with visions ranging from Kelly sobbing as she hurt her knee; Kelly teething, her irkesome wails keeping him and Shannon up all night; Kelly ill, throwing up miserably; Tony whimpering as he rubbed his gums in frustration; Tony trying to breathe, an IV in his arm, blue lights everywhere...

"Jethro!" Gibbs and Tony's heads both jerked upwards, which made Tony give another tiny whimper and push his face into Gibbs' chest, letting him rock him forward and back, the gesture soothing for a while, until he was suddenly taken away from the safety of his fath... _Gibbs'_ arms and sat on the closed toilet seat lid, being looked at closely by Ducky, who asked,

"How long have you felt like this?"

Tony rubbed at his eyes, hoping to drive away the tears building up there, "Only since I woke up."

Ducky looked to Gibbs for translation, "About half an hour ago."

"And he's been vomiting and said his stomach hurts?" Gibbs nodded, taking Tony back from the toilet seat as he looked like he was about to start howling.

Giving him a comforting cuddle when Ducky's back was turned for a second, Gibbs asked, "What do you think is wrong with him?"

"I would say it's just a stomach bug. He needs plenty of liquids and rest Jethro, but I would suggest having another person round."

"Why?" Gibbs demanded. He'd been doing well with Tony so far hadn't he?

"Well... Abigail's been quite worried, and I hear poor Timothy is being quite bullied by Caitlin, who needs to speak to you about something, so..."

"So you invited them all round and they're waiting outside?" Gibbs asked shrewdly, narrowing his eyes. Ducky blushed slightly and bowed his head, saying,

"They promised not to disturb young Anthony unless you said so, and said they didn't want you to be lonely."

"I'm not lonely," Gibbs defended, "We had a visitor this afternoon, didn't we Tony?" The baby nodded, clutching at Gibbs' fingers like a life-line, and whispered,

"Grandpa."

Gibbs chuckled and said to Ducky, "My Dad came round. After not that much contact for about ten years, he picks _now_ of all times to visit."

"What did you say?" The excitable squeal that came with that question definitely didn't come from Ducky, and Gibbs turned to find Abby hovering in the doorway, along with McGee and Kate squashed behind her. As soon as she saw the miserable Tony sat limply in Gibbs' arms Abby at once lowered her voice and gave a whispered apology; before,

"Do you want me to take him for a while Gibbs? You look like you could use the rest."

Gibbs at once shook his head and argued, "I need to stay with him, he's ill, and if he gets worse, what if..."

"Gibbs, just go get some rest, I'll be fine." Tony murmured. Gibbs looked down at his face worriedly. What if something was seriously wrong with the baby? Gibbs knew that Tony wanted him close by, but all the same, he was pretty tired...

"Go Gibbs." Abby ordered, "We'll look after him for you. I promise." Gibbs looked at her for a moment before hesitantly offering Tony to Abby, who was about to cringe and whimper, holding his arms out for Gibbs again, before remembering that he'd told Gibbs it was fine. He sat there in Abby's arms for a while, unhappily, before she carefully stepped out the room, leaving Gibbs to go to the living room with Ducky.

She sat down gently on a chair in the kitchen, and whispered,

"So what did you do today baby?" Tony sniffed miserably, although his stomach felt slightly better,

"Grandpa came round...and I drew him a picture." Abby kissed Tony's head and lapsed into silence, thinking. Tony was undoubtedly slipping more and more into Tony Junior. Not in the way he spoke, as she knew 18 month olds could barely string a proper sentence together, but in what he said, or how he said it. What if it got so bad that he'd forever talk like that? She knew Gibbs wouldn't mind being called 'Daddy', whatever he said, but it would be horrible without Tony. Actual Tony, who would happily tease McGee and Kate, and forever say, 'On your six Boss!'.

"Abbs?" Tony asked in a small voice,

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Do you think Gibbs likes having me here?" Abby grinned, and in that small gesture, Tony guessed he did. However, Abby felt it prudent to expand on it,

"Of course he does Tony! If he didn't you wouldn't be here! I mean, he feeds you, changes you, bathes you... Need I go on? He loves having a baby in the house!"

"A baby?" Tony questioned quietly, "Or me?" Abby bit her lip,

"I meant _you _Tony, not just any baby."

"Yeah but he only wants me here while I'm still like this. As soon as I'm normal it'll be back to... slaps on the head and growling."

"Which makes you feel wanted."

"But I feel more wanted _now_." He moaned, just before he gave a whine and started to sob weakly, "I don't feel so good..." Abby cuddled him before she realised that was subtle hint to, 'I'm going to throw up now.'

She got him over to Gibbs' sink, praying he wouldn't be angry for it. Once Tony had finished, she kissed his head again, and got him to drink some water. He sipped it and felt better, but still had tears in his eyes, and was glancing at the door every three seconds, hoping a certain person would come in.

--

"Should we still go to the nursery tomorrow?" Kate asked Gibbs, not sure whether that sounded tactless or not.

Gibbs shrugged and replied, "I don't know Kate. We'll see how he is in the morning. If not, we call the whole thing off and go in guns blazing and arrest him. The more I think about it, the more it sounds a better idea."

Kate snorted, not really sure what to do. To be completely honest, she didn't want to go to the nursery with Tony tomorrow. The suspect creeped her out a bit, and she knew Tony would do _something_. Still, she merely nodded and winced as she heard the sounds of more vomiting in the kitchen, followed by sobbing.

At once, Gibbs tried to get up and go to the baby, to try and comfort him, but they wouldn't let him. He was pinned back slightly by Ducky and Kate, and told,

"Abby can handle it Gibbs, she has little siblings."

"But I should be with him," Gibbs argued, "He needs me." There was a small silence as they all processed what Gibbs said. They knew how much he cared for Tony, and how that side was coming out more and more as time went on, but he was _never _so open about it. They all jumped as Abby re-entered the room, holding Tony,

"He was exhausted," She explained, as they realised the baby was asleep, "He said he felt better after the second time."

"Maybe he didn't catch anything," Ducky said, "He may just have... needed to vomit I suppose. But keep an eye on him Jethro." Gibbs nodded as Ducky went out the house, quickly followed by every member of his team.

Really. You'd think they didn't have lives of their own. McGee hadn't even _said_ anything. It was as if they'd all come round to make sure he was keeping Tony alive. He scowled but quietly placed the baby in the cot, and kissed his forehead softly,

"Night night kiddo, see you in the morning."

**Ok, I know this was like, worst chapter ever, and quite short, but I didn't have much ideas for this part, and it was kinda to tide them over to the next day, when _lots _is going to happen (I hope :P). So, sorry again, but I'd really appreciate reviews :) xx**


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for the delay, I had to revise for my French exam :S I think I probably passed by the skin of my teeth lol ;) So, if there isn't a chapter in a while, please bear in mind that I'm actually starting my GCSE's. Eeep :S**

Tony woke up to sun streaming through the windows. He sat up eagerly, feeling happy and hyper for some reason, though he wasn't sure why. As he stood up, curling his fingers around the bars of the crib, he remembered what had happened last night. He cautiously touched his stomach, wondering if he was ill. As there was no nauseous feeling, he guessed it must have been something he ate. He bounced happily on the balls of his feet, saying into the empty room,

"Gibbs?" Knowing the baby monitor was on, he waited patiently for a while until the older man appeared, looking ready to go, but he still only had his socks on, so it was obvious he still wasn't sure about going in to work,

"Mornin' kiddo. How do you feel today?" Tony rubbed at his eyes slightly, getting rid of any sleep, and answered,

"Better! Can we go into work today??" Gibbs looked to be thinking for a moment, and got Tony out of the crib, still not saying a word. He seemed to be checking Tony as he changed him and got him into some clothes. Finally, the stare shifted and his mouth turned upwards somewhat,

"Yeah, I reckon we can go in. But any more nonsense like before, running off, you'll wish you'd never been born." Gibbs' tone was serious, and Tony cowered slightly, before seeing the solution. He just wouldn't stray from Gibbs. It wouldn't be that hard, as he liked being near the older man, and Gibbs was keen to have him stay near him at all times anyway,

"I gotcha Boss." Tony replied cheerily, being put on the floor as they came to the bottom of the stairs.

"I need to get my shoes. If you want, you can bring some stuff, but you better be quick. Soon as I tie the lace we're gone." Tony hastily toddled into the living room, looking around through the mountains of toys. He wasn't even sure why he felt the need to play, to be so childish, but he felt compelled to.

When Gibbs came into the room, both shoes firmly on his feet, he found Tony stood there, holding a pale blue blanket, which had probably become his 'safety blanket' and clutching various beanie babys (Which, Gibbs noted smiling, were all of the investigators from the kid's crime scene).

"Ready?" He asked, and got a nod. He sighed as he saw Tony stumbling over the blanket and trying desperately to keep a solid hold on his collection of animals. Eventually, Gibbs gently took the toddler from off the floor to carry him, making sure the toys were resting securely on him until they got to the car.

--

"Gibbs! We didn't think you'd be in today! I guess Tony feels better?" Gibbs nodded in answer to Kate's question and set Tony down on the floor as they entered the bullpen. The crib they had acquired that first night was still stood in the middle proudly, and before Tony knew, he was plonked down inside it, nearly dropping all his toys and his blanket in the process,

"I was fine on the floor!" He yelled upwards, to whoever it was that had put him back in there,

"Can't have you wandering kid, and we need to concentrate." Tony shot Gibbs a sour look, before it quickly came off his face and he started to play happily, giving them about half an hour of solid, quiet work done, before,

"I'm hungry..." Gibbs rolled his eyes, but he guessed the kid deserved a treat after sitting there for so long without talking.

"Kate, you want to..."

"Oooh, Gibbs, let me! Let me!" He didn't even need to turn around to know who had bounded into the room. He chuckled and scooped Tony up out the pen, letting him hold onto his blanket, and passed him to Abby,

"Make sure he eats something good, not loads of crap." Abby jokingly put her hands around Tony's ears and chided,

"You shouldn't say such things in front of children Gibbs!" Her tone changed as she walked off, saying, "You hungry Baby? What do you want? If you don't tell Gibbs I'll get you a muffin, ok Sweetie?"

Gibbs couldn't be bothered saying anything, and he even laughed slightly, a smile on his face as he bent down, back to his work. Kate and McGee both noticed the change in his behaviour. Before this, he'd have yelled, and stared them down. Well, maybe not Abby, but definitely Tony. But now, he was almost melting more and more every time he looked at the baby.

Gibbs caught Kate staring at him, so she blushed and hastily got back to work.

--

"Ok Honey, do you want a chocolate muffin, a chocolate muffin or, wait for it... a chocolate muffin?" Tony giggled and pointed to a chocolate muffin eagerly, feeling as though he hadn't eaten in days (Which was kind of true, seeing as he'd thrown up last night and Gibbs hadn't wanted to try anything until they got to work). Abby heard his stomach rumbling and added a carton of juice to the tray and she bought herself a sandwich,

"We'll split it." She explained to him, smiling at just how cute he was. He was still trailing the blanket across the floor (And she hoped Gibbs wouldn't get cross because of it) and smiling up at various agents who walked by. By the time they were at the till, he'd started to suck his thumb to try and forget how hungry he was, and Abby had to try and take it out of his mouth, and guide him over to a table while balancing the tray in her hands.

When they were finally seated, she smiled over at him. She'd specially asked for a high chair, and he was sat there, swinging his legs quite happily, waiting for his food.

"How are you with straws?" She asked, almost joking but not quite. Tony grinned and said,

"I love straws! I drank with one the other night, and didn't choke myself."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Of _course _I'm sure. _Gibbs _said I did well." He said, making it sound as though that ended it. Abby smiled and popped the straw in the juice carton, pushing it towards the baby. She still wasn't sure about letting him drink with a straw - but if Gibbs was alright with it, so was she. And Tony would try and impress Gibbs, so he'd try his best not to do anything stupid, like land himself in hospital.

Tony drank happily, grinning as Abby cautiously passed him small bites of her sandwich, making sure he wasn't going to throw up again. When he'd eaten them all and tried to sneak some more, earning him a slap on the wrist, she'd passed him the muffin, and watched with amusement as he got it all over his face, and the blanket he insisted on dragging around with him.

"Tony," She started hesitantly, knowing how children could be with their 'blankies', "Are you sure you don't want to put that down while you eat?" At once, he glowered at her, the mood changing completely and he muttered,

"I want to go back to Gibbs."

"Aw c'mon Tony, we haven't hung out in _ages_, and I want to hear more about this crime scene you investigated the other day." Tony looked confused for a moment, before his eyes lit up,

"My crime scene! We were all there! If you want, Gibbs can show you the pictures he took." Abby grinned, seeing Gibbs was going with his photo album idea,

"That sounds fun Tony," She said, completely honest, "But should we go back down there, tidy you up a bit? Then you can show me your crime scene. Though you'll have to improvise with the toys you brought with you." He gasped in delight,

"My NCIS toys! There's one for each of us, even Fornell, though that was 'cause he stole our investigation..." She let him gabble on at an enormous rate, picking him up and heading back down to the squad room.

--

"We should really wait until we know for sure, we can't just storm in, and expect to see them..."

"Will you relax, Harley? I know what I'm doing. Beside, you want your old man out, don't you?" The younger man called Harley bit his lip,

"But he's in prison, not here..."

The older man beside him scowled, saying, "But if we could get the evidence and destroy it, then we could get him out!"

"But... but there wasn't any evidence Arthur. Just that kid. He was the one Dad gave the drugs to..."

Arthur grinned manically, "I spotted them in the swimming pool a couple of days ago. They keep putting a meet off, so I'm gonna 'reason' with them."

"How'd you know they were NCIS agents?"

"They were snooping round the office where poor old Oliver got it. They still got the kid with them. I know that Gibbs fella cares about him, he'd do anything to let your old man out if the kid was in danger..."

--

Abby received a stern telling off in the bullpen as she brought Tony back, covered in chocolate. A stern telling off that didn't quite meet Gibbs' ice blue eyes as he saw Tony pulling impatiently at Abby's hand, trying to get her to come and see his new crime scene.

When Gibbs finally let her go, she was pulled over to the pen, and admired the toys, laughing at the hamster and shi-zu, and smiling as he introduced the two German shepherds. Gibbs shook his head fondly, and started to type at his computer, until McGee yelped out,

"Someone's trying to hack me Boss!" Abby at once ran over to his computer, helping him to type as they talked in geek speak. Gibbs went over as well, as Abby gave him the normal run down,

"This is really powerful technology Gibbs. It's like the CIA, only with a better hacker. They're trying to download our files." Gibbs' eyebrows knotted together, a sign that Tony took to mean 'Stay out of my way or I _will _kill you'. Nevertheless, he toddled over, not confined to his net pen, and tugged at the older man's trouser leg - albeit very softly,

"Hey Gibbs?" Gibbs glared down, immediately changing his expression, hoping the kid hadn't taken that to mean he was angry with him.

"What is it Tony? 'Cause we're really busy right now." Tony bit his lip,

"I'm bored." Gibbs pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and said, through gritted teeth,

"Kate, take DiNozzo for a walk around the block. McGee, update!"

Tony looked over at Kate with a sad look in his eyes. He was being pushed away by Gibbs, and when he meekly said,

"Bye Boss." He didn't get a reply.

--

"Do you think Gibbs hates me?" He asked Kate, a forlorn expression on his face. Her heart broke, feeling sorry for the baby, and bounced him slightly on her hip - she'd have loved to be a mother,

"No Tony, he's just busy, and stressed. If McGee and Abby can't handle this hacker, they might have all our files." Tony didn't say anything, and let Kate begin to walk slowly back from where they had been sat, on a bench outside the building,

"We'll go for a quick walk round the block, then go back inside, ok?" Tony nodded, not noticing the black van parked close to the kerb they were walking past, shielded by trees and bushes, not to mention the sound of traffic.

--

"I _told _you that if Gibbs got stressed enough he'd send the kid outside."

"Yeah Arthur, you were right, as always." A weary Harley sounded, from where he sat in the van, wringing his hands nervously as they came closer.

--

"McGee, where's Kate?" McGee looked up from his desk, a harried look about himself,

"Boss, she's not answering her cell, and security said she only walked round the corner about ten minutes ago." Gibbs growled, a terrifying sound that made the whole squad room go silent.

"But er, we stopped the hacker. They went offline, but I think I'll probably be able to trace it." Just as he said this, Gibbs' phone rang. Picking it up, he barked,

"Gibbs." Into it.

"Aah, Agent Gibbs, what a pleasure to hear your... dulcet tones."

"Arthur Lacey," Gibbs guessed, clicking his fingers at McGee and pointing down to the phone to tell him to trace the call, "What do you want?"

"Actually," Lacey drawled into the phone, "It's more what _you _want." The phone was shifted slightly and he heard Kate yelling,

"Gibbs? Gibbs!"

Then, his blood ran cold as he heard a baby wail,

"Daddy!"

**Lol, gotta love cliffhanger ;p Review? Sorry it's not so long, for some reason I assumed it would be longer :S xxx**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry about the cliff-hanger lol, I love putting people on edge ;) Loving all the reviews, thanks for all them :)**

_Actually," Lacey drawled into the phone, "It's more what you want." The phone was shifted slightly and he heard Kate yelling,_

_"Gibbs? Gibbs!"_

_Then, his blood ran cold as he heard a baby wail,_

_"Daddy!"_

Gibbs reached out a slightly shaking hand and set the phone onto speaker, barking out into the office,

"Shut up dammit!" All the agents at once were silent, and McGee froze for half a second into his ferocious typing as he heard the panic in his boss' voice, before getting back to tracing call, rolling his fingers round indicating to Gibbs that he needed to speak for a while longer,

"Tony?" Gibbs asked, his voice cracking halfway through, so un-Gibbs, "Are you ok?" All he got was some sobbing, while Kate tried to yell to him,

_"He's fine Gibbs, he's just scared, listen, we're near..."_There was a thunk and then silence, and Gibbs felt white hot anger flash through him. If they had hit one of his agents there'd be hell to pay. Tony had started to cry louder, terrified by the fact that his Aunt Kate was now no longer talking,

_"Agent Gibbs,"_ The drawling was back, and Lacey said, _"If you want your agent and..."_ Gibbs could picture his lip curling, _"_Baby_ back, you have to release Edgar Warren."_

"Not going to happen Lacey." Gibbs spat down the phone, and heard someone in the background yell,

_"He hasn't done anything wrong!"_

_"Shut up Harley!"_ Gibbs heard Lacey growl to whoever it was, before trying to say, smoothly, _"That's your choice Gibbs, you free him, we free them. You don't free him, we kill them. Baby first."_

Gibbs could hear Tony's heart-wrenching sobs before the line went dead.

--

Tony was terrified. One second him and Kate were heading back inside, the next; a young man was asking for directions before pulling them both into a van. He had to give Kate credit though. She didn't say anything to make them think they'd intimidated her, and she constantly tried to reassure him, bouncing him up and down smoothly, before saying, in a calm voice,

"Arthur Lacey. Why are you doing this?" The man grinned manically and gently cupped her face in one of his hands and answered,

"'Cause my mate Harley over there," He motioned to the man driving, who had bundled them into the van, "Wants his old man out of jail. And I know that we can either use you to our advantage, or get rid of any evidence for his case."

"But you would never be able to get hold of any evidence..."

"I just did." He glanced down at Tony before going to sit in front with Harley. Kate cuddled Tony slightly and whispered,

"It's ok Tony, you know Gibbs'll find us, he always does." Tony nodded miserably, uncomfortable in the cramped van, not to mention tired, hungry, thirsty and in need of a change. Kate put a soft finger on his lips as he was about to say something and whispered,

"Listen." Tony cocked his head and they could both hear the kidnappers muttering to each other,

"Are you sure we've even got the right kid? What if that is actually Gibbs' son? We'll be pulled apart with his bare hands if he catches us."

"I'm sure it's him Harley," Although Lacey didn't sound too sure, "And even if it's not, we can still use them to get to Gibbs can't we? If he fails to deliver... we'll send a little baby finger."

Tony went green and it took all of Kate's will power not to pull back as he vomited in the van, and she managed to keep him close to her, rubbing his back and saying loudly,

"We'll be fine Tony. As soon as Gibbs finds us, he'll get the electrical testes removers from storage, like last time you went missing." Tony almost grinned as he heard at least one of them men moan slightly in the front seat.

Almost.

--

They had arrived at a warehouse, surrounded by others, which made Kate's heart sink as she saw that. It would take the team ages to find them.

"Nice place isn't it?" Lacey asked, leering at her, "Industrial park off route 167, nice and quiet." He grinned and pulled her forward, before grabbing Tony and putting him on the floor,

"If he's really who we think he is, he should have no trouble walking." Kate managed to pull a confused face,

"What are you on about? He doesn't have trouble walking, no - but he is Gibbs' son. Is that what you mean by it?" Her face was serious, so self-assured, that Lacey's young partner stumbled back slightly,

"Shit," He muttered worriedly, "I think we got the wrong baby."

"Will you relax?" Lacey yelled, "We can still use them. Get them into the chairs, while I call their boss." Kate's eyes glimmered with hope as Lacey started to dial - how he got the number she didn't care. She felt herself being dragged towards an empty warehouse, Tony trying to follow, sobbing in self-pity and forever stumbling. Eventually, Harley (Who definitely seemed the nicer of the two) let her pick him up, with a quick, nervous glance at Lacey, who was still waiting for Gibbs to answer his phone.

She was shoved onto a chair, as was Tony, and they were bound tight with rope, already cutting into their wrists. Kate struggled with hers for a while, before realising it was no good, and heard Lacey saying,

"Aah, Agent Gibbs, what a pleasure to hear your... dulcet tones." He appeared to be listening for a second before smiling,

"Actually, it's more what you want." Kate blinked before realising what an opportunity she had and yelled,

"Gibbs? Gibbs!" Tony tried as well,

"Daddy!!" Lacey grinned, although a bit of colour had gone from his face as he thought they had indeed got the wrong baby. He put it on speaker phone as Gibbs yelled,

_"Tony?" _Kate almost started to cry as Gibbs sounded so heartbroken, _"Are you ok?" _Tony couldn't answer, his breaths coming in heaving sobs. Kate knew Gibbs would think he was hurt, and she also knew if she said it quickly, she could tell him where they were,

"He's fine Gibbs, he's just scared. Listen, we're near..." She was instantly hit over the back of the head and passed out, her breathing becoming shallow as the last thing she heard was Tony wailing hysterically, knowing he wouldn't be able to say anything - they'd finally been able to make their kidnappers think they had the wrong baby.

"Agent Gibbs," Lacey continued, _"_If you want your agent and..._baby_ back, you have to release Edgar Warren." He gave Gibbs his ultimatum, and when he finally put the phone down, Kate had come to. Slightly woozy, but still aware of what was going on around her, she asked slowly,

"Why do you want Warren released anyway?"

"'Cause he doesn't want his dad to stay in prison the rest of his life!" Lacey roared, jerking his thumb at Harley, who was nervously glancing at Tony,

"Hey, I think we should feed him or... something. This is eventually gonna attract attention. Lacey rolled his eyes.

"You!" He said, pointing at Kate, "What can you do to stop him crying?"

"You'll have to untie us both," She said calmly, "And then I'll try and change him and give him something to eat. Do you have anything?" Harley scuttled off, before Lacey's mouth smirked upwards,

"Leave it Harley. No one'll be anywhere near here. Let him cry. Tell you what. Let the woman go, and let _her _go to the toilet and eat. Leave him where he is." Kate almost cried herself at the injustice, but when her hands were untied she was jabbed in the back with a gun, pushing her towards the ladies room.

--

"McGee if you didn't trace that call I swear to God..." Gibbs growled, in such an angry tone McGee almost wet himself. He stuttered out,

"I got so far as to an abandoned industrial park before he cut you off."

"Well why are you still sat there?"

"It's... it's a big place Boss, it would take us ages to search all of it," Gibbs narrowed his eyes and McGee lowered his, saying, "I'll work out which was the most likely place they'd go."

"Pull the surveillance videos from outside the buildings from this afternoon." Gibbs turned on his heel and towards the elevator. Inside, he allowed himself a punch to the wall of it. Stepping out, he stormed to the lab.

McGee had probably called and warned Abby, who at once gave him a huge hug, not letting go until he finally pried her off him,

"Gibbs! Is Tony gonna be ok? And Kate?" She shrunk as Gibbs fixed her with a glare,

"We'll find them Abby. And if they're both not fine so help me I'll hurt them myself." Abby nodded and pointed over to the plasma,

"Timmy sent me the surveillance video. If you see by the corner of the building, Kate and Tony are just about to go round there. Then, this guy appears." She paused it as a man approached the two,

"I want a name..."

"I already got it Gibbs, his name's Harley Warren, our wayward scientist's son." Gibbs ground his teeth as the tape went on to show Kate and Tony went round the corner slightly. Then, a few seconds later, a white van went off. Gibbs quickly took down the plate number and pretty much ran out of the lab.

"McGee, I want a BOLO out on this van." He rattled off the number and started to pace up and down as McGee worked furiously.

To tell the truth, Gibbs was absolutely terrified. He was scared for Kate, obviously, but Tony was so vulnerable right now. And how would they find them? For the first time, only because he was so scared; Gibbs doubted his team. What if they couldn't find the two agents? What if Abby and McGee's computer know-how wasn't enough to find Kate and Tony? He shuddered as he imagined what might be happening to the baby. They clearly knew what had happened, and would be merciless. They might have gone easy on him if they thought he was an actualy baby, but what would happen if they were as ruthless as Gibbs suspected they might be?

"Agent Gibbs," Gibbs looked up to see Morrow stood on the stairs, interrupting his musing, "Can I speak with you?" Gibbs nodded, but wasn't really aware of doing so. It was like he was in a trance.

"Gibbs, I know you're really busy right now, and pre-occupied with your missing agents, but this is Melissa, my nephew's wife?" Gibbs hadn't realised there was someone stood next to the Director. She was very pretty, with long black hair and bright blue eyes, and was smiling at him warmly, as if she understood exactly what he was going through. Sticking her hand out, she said,

"Hello Agent Gibbs, Uncle Tom told me about your problem. I have to say, I think I deserve a pat on the back." Gibbs looked at her, eyes wide,

"You've found an antidote?" She nodded, grinning, and replied,

"It was quite hard, and it's still not done yet. I need to check the actual person..."

"Tony." Gibbs interrupted,

"Yes, Tony. I need to check a few things about him before I can completely finish it. I know he's missing, so I can wait. Good luck." He nodded at her, and walked back down to the squad room, where McGee was flapping his hand frantically, calling him over,

"Boss, I think I found them!"

--

They'd been in that warehouse for most of the day. Kate's heart ached as they forced her out of the chair, in plain sight of Tony, as she went to the bathroom, or gave her food and drink. Whenever she tried to give Tony it, Lacey would grab hold of the baby's arm, and twist it slightly, making him cry out in pain.

It was now getting dark, and Lacey was grinding his teeth,

"I'm sick of staying in here. _He_," Lacey growled, pointing at Tony, "Won't stop crying, and Gibbs hasn't released your dad yet Harls. I think we should cut something off. Like a toe or something." Kate shifted in her chair, as the man was getting incredibly knife-happy **(A/N, lol, I'm thinking of trigger-happy, but oh well :P) **and Tony was worn out, and definitely wouldn't put up much of a fight. When he finally started to nod off, he was prodded in the ribs, and made to stay awake.

Just as he was about to die from exhaustion, Lacey grabbed hold of his arm once again, jerking him awake. He let out a squawk of pain, to which Kate cried out,

"Don't hurt him! He's only a baby!" Lacey grinned, and she could tell exactly how crazy he was.

"What, this guy here?" He bent the arm a bit more, and said, "You sure about that Katie? Sure he's not just in disguise?" He bent the arm a tad more, and Kate heard a sickening **snap **of bone. Tony started to howl once more, and Lacey just let go. He looked weary, as if this was just an every day occurrence,

"Watch them." He ordered Harley, "I'm going to go bunk down for the night. Call me if Gibbs gets in touch." He left the room and Kate started to struggle, desperate to comfort Tony, who was an incredibly pale colour,

"Please stop," Harley whispered to her, his knife at her back, but hardly touching her, "Please."

"You don't want to hurt us," Kate said to him, hoping to get him at least free Tony. She saw the shadow of a nod and continued, "And you don't really want your Dad from prison do you?" He stayed silent, "Is it Lacey? Is he the one who wants him free? What does your Dad have that he wants?"

Harley looked at her, and withdrew his knife. He quietly undid the ropes by Tony's legs, allowing him to get off the chair once the ones around his arms were undone.

"He's dying." The man whispered, "Dad has an antidote, but only he knows where it is." Kate nodded, not taking her eyes of Tony, who had slid off the chair and was sobbing pathetically in a small ball on the floor,

"You have to let me help him!" Kate pleaded, "Please!" Harley glanced towards the door Lacey had exited and whispered,

"I'll go get some milk or something." She smiled gratefully. She knew he wasn't all bad - she'd seen the hesitancy all day, and the blow that had rendered her unconscious wasn't as hard as it could have been, as he looked quite powerful,

"Tony?" She said softly, hoping to get some kind of response, "Tony, look at me. Look at me sweetie." Tony glanced up, still sobbing, holding his arm weakly,

"Gibbs will be here soon, ok?" Tony just curled up into a tighter ball, and only reacted when the doors of the warehouse were kicked open,

"NCIS!"

--

Gibbs crashed through the doors of the warehouse and ran in. The first thing he saw was Kate tied to a chair, trying to talk to... His heart ripped open when he saw a small ball curled up on the floor, sobbing profusely and clutching his arm.

He didn't hear anything as he ran. Not McGee to tell him to be careful, Lacey could still be in there, not Kate, trying to tell him what happened. All he heard was Tony's sobs. When he finally reached the boy, he crouched down, and put a hand on his head,

"Tony? Can you sit up?" He asked quietly, not wanting to scare him. Tony still cried, and nothing Gibbs could say would stop him. However, he managed to calm down a little bit as Gibbs pulled out the pale blue blanket he had taken to carrying around with him every where he went. The baby took it carefully, crying into it - but not minding being picked up by Gibbs.

"You ok Kate?" He asked, after making sure the only thing wrong with Tony was his arm,

"I'm fine," She said, rubbing her wrists (McGee had untied her), "But we really need to get Tony to hospital. I think Lacey broke his arm and they wouldn't let him eat, sleep or drink. Wouldn't let me change him either." Gibbs growled. He carefully passed Tony over to Kate and stormed to the only door in the room.

Harley Warren had already been arrested, and would be interviewed back at NCIS. For now, Gibbs only had eyes for Arthur Lacey.

He slammed into the room, amazed that the first they came into the building it hadn't woken him. He was awake now however, looking up in horror at Gibbs,

"How did you find us?" He was pulled out of the bed he was on by his neck, as Gibbs pulled him close to his face and whispered,

"How did you think you'd get away with it?" He threw the man against a table in the room, enjoying the sound of the crash resonating around the room. Gibbs picked up a chunk of wood from the broken table and came closer to Lacey, who whimpered pitifully,

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me... I got the wrong kid alright? I thought yours was someone else." Gibbs barked out a harsh laugh and spat out,

"You'll wish for death when I'm finished." He snapped the wood in half, loving how Lacey flinched at the sound. Getting nearer, he heard a yell,

"Gibbs, Ducky's here, he said we need to get Tony to hospital asap!" Gibbs growled, but parental duties overtook revenge and he whispered,

"I'll finish the job later." He had McGee cuff the guy (And noted, with a slight smirk that the young agent fastened them _way _too tight). Running over to Kate and Ducky, he took Tony back and kissed his head, murmuring,

"It'll be alright now Tony, go to sleep."

And he did.

**Lol, I found the ending slightly stupid but hey. And don't worry, there's still gonna be _quite _alot of Baby Tony in this story yet. Promise :) Review? x**


	21. Chapter 21

**H****ey, thanks for all the magnificent reviews, I'm glad you all wanna see Arthur Lacey's ass kicked ^^**

Gibbs rode in the ambulance, his heart hammering. It was threatening to jump straight out of his mouth, as he looked at Tony. The paramedics had had to give him a mild sedative while they took a look at him, as he had moaned and fussed, only calming when Gibbs took him in his arms and rocked him. Although he had fallen asleep before, he kept waking up, the horror of what happened catching up with him.

Gibbs just sat there with the baby on his knee, staring at him. It felt like it had been months since seeing the kid, when in reality it had been a couple of hours. For a few moments, Gibbs felt pride in his team, before the hatred came running back, as well as the anger, the guilt, the pain. He didn't want to see Tony suffer, god knows he didn't. For the last few days he had been trying as hard as he could to keep Tony safe, but he'd failed him.

Gibbs bit his lip and dug his fingernails into his free palm (The other wrapped tightly around Tony's good hand) as he heard the paramedics tell the doctor what was wrong with the baby,

"Multiple lacerations around the body, hasn't had any liquids or food for about 6 hours and his arm is definitely broken. There is also a strong possibility that there'll be severe psychological trauma." Gibbs wasn't sure whether they were directing this to him or the doctor, but still didn't say anything. The paramedics had allowed Gibbs to keep a tight hold on Tony, and had given warning faces to the nurse who tried to take him out of the older man's arms, and now Gibbs was pushed gently in the direction of the children's ward.

He hadn't been here in a _long _time, and it was odd going with DiNozzo this way rather than Accident and Emergency or straight to theatre if it was something major.

"Would you like to step in here?" The nurse asked politely as she pulled the curtain of a cubicle open, allowing Gibbs to walk through and gently rest on the bed, not giving any indication that he was going to put Tony down. The Nurse merely smiled and got out a pack of what looked to be standardized changing tools, in packets which had all obviously been sterilized before being stacked up neatly in the corner of the cubicle,

"Do you want to lie him down?" She asked, her voice soft, and Gibbs guessed that she'd been working with children for so long eventually either he voice got worn down from shouting, or she was genuinely scared of disturbing them. He slowly went to lay Tony down on the bed, as she stood ready with various baby paraphernalia including fresh diapers and wipes. However, Tony tried to struggle to get back to him, or at least keep some form of physical contact with him,

"Hey, Tony, I'm right here, look at me, I'm here." He whispered softly to the baby, stroking its' forehead smoothly, but not without affection. The nurse smiled and asked (Again with the quiet voice),

"Would you keep doing that? If he fusses again he might cause further damage to his arm." She didn't say anything past that, and Gibbs was surprised. He'd always encountered some kind of busy body nurse who would ask what had happen, a small, disbelieving smile on her face as it became clear she wouldn't buy it. No doubt the doctor would ask some questions though…

His blood ran cold for a second. What if they involved Social Services? Ok, he hadn't really expected to be the best parent in the world, but he'd done ok, really. Everything considered; he'd done a good job.

A small snuffle from the bed indicated that the nurse had finished her job. As Gibbs slowly sat Tony up, so he was sat on the older man's knee, the nurse murmured,

"He wasn't changed for at least six hours," She explained to Gibbs, "And he used it quite a lot, normal for babies who are scared of under stress. Unfortunately this resulted in quite a bad case of diaper rash. You just need to put this cream on, and in a few days he'll be just fine. Now, I need to go and see the Doctor, he needs to x-ray that arm, and I just need to clean up those wounds, so I won't be a minute." She nodded at Gibbs and walked out. Damn, she even walked quietly. It was like there was no noise in the whole hospital for a minute, before suddenly Tony gave a small snort and dissolved into sobs.

At once Gibbs started to comfort him, cuddling him close, not caring at all whether someone walked in,

"Hey Tony, come on. I know this was a really horrible thing, and I don't expect you to get over it so soon, but you have to remember that you survived the plague. You've been shot, you've fallen out of a plane, you've been drugged and kidnapped…" He tailed off as he realised just how bad his Senior Field Agent had it over the past few years.

Giving Tony an extra hug, he whispered,

"I will _never _let anything bad happen to you again." Tony simply tried to squirm even closer to him, clinging onto Gibbs' arms as if he could never bear to let go.

"Hey, Tony, I brought something for him you might want," Gibbs said to him in a soft voice, "Do you want to see what it is?" He got a small nod and smiled, reaching into the bag he'd brought in. He pulled out the blue blanket he knew Tony loved and put it near to the kid, feeling his heart almost burst with affection as Tony snuffled and started to nestle into it, still holding onto Gibbs' arm.

The nurse came back in, and smiled,

"The doctor's outside the cubicle Sir," She said, "He said he needs to speak with you." Gibbs looked down at Tony, torn between speaking with the doctor and wanting – no, _needing_ – to stay with Tony.

"He'll be fine with me." The nurse said, so eventually, Gibbs left the cubicle, but not before making sure Tony had a tight hold on his blanket.

Once outside, the doctor turned to him with clipboard in hand. Just as he opened his mouth, Gibbs' phone rang,

"Answer it," The doctor said, smiling, "I just need to go and check something anyway." He walked off towards the nurse's station, as Gibbs flipped his phone up,

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs! Ducky called and told me what happened, is Tony ok? He isn't is he? Are they giving him enough attention? 'Cause he gets moody if he doesn't get attention…"

"Abbs, relax, he's fine. Well, as fine as you can be when some bastard's just broken your arm with his bare hands." Gibbs spat, ignoring the odd looks he got off various hospital staff. Abby gasped in horror and said,

"I don't care what you say Gibbs, I'm abandoning my work and coming in. I should be there, why aren't I there? What if he's scared? Are there clown pictures on the walls of the children's ward?" Gibbs shook his head, forgetting Abby couldn't see him and replied,

"Cowboys."

"Well that's good right? I mean, Tony loves his old Western movies, so he should be in his element. I bet he's got all the nurses looming over him, chucking his chin and telling him how cute he is… Why isn't that me? I should… No, wait, I need to do my work, you're right Gibbs."

"Abbs, I didn't say anything," Gibbs replied softly, "I… you should be here, Tony needs you. I… I need you." This was a hard thing to admit for a man like Gibbs, and Abby knew how much he meant it,

"I'm on my way Bossman. Kate and Ducky should be there right about now."

"Why?" Gibbs asked, looking up and down the corridor for any signs of the two,

"They wanted to check Kate over, but they couldn't because you and Tony were hogging the ambulance, so Ducky took Kate in his car. Ok, I'll be there soon."

Gibbs hung up just as the doctor approached,

"Special Agent Gibbs? I'm Dr King, your son's paediatrician. When the nurse has finished cleaning him up, we should have no trouble getting the x-ray. I just have to say, I can't find any records of an Anthony Gibbs on the system." The doctor looked at him with keen eyes, and Gibbs felt his mind going blank, a very rare thing. Just when he thought the doctor would get suspicious, he heard a voice behind him,

"It's alright Glenn, I'll take over." Gibbs turned round to see none other than Dr Brad Pitt, smiling at him, with his eyes twinkling happily,

"I heard you'd come in, and knew immediately who you would have come in with." Gibbs smiled at him, but panicked. Did this mean Dr Pitt didn't actually know what had happened, and simply thought that he was going to be treating actually Tony? No – Gibbs shook his head to clear that thought – if that were true, he would have been very confused if he was told Agent Gibbs was down in Paediatrics.

"Brad, he doesn't have any medical insurance, and you aren't even specialised in paediatrics! I couldn't allow it!" Dr King argued, but he looked eager at the thought of being able to go home after an 18 hour shift – this would have been his last patient,

"In all fairness Glenn, I know the kid's medical history (_Ah, _Gibbs thought, _He does know_) and you owe me. You let me see this patient, we call it even." Gibbs could tell that Dr King was too tempted by this offer, and he eventually just handed over his chart saying,

"Just sign it all in my name then Brad. But if you get caught…"

"Agent Gibbs will cover me." Brad grinned, and waved to his co-worker. He finally turned to Gibbs and said,

"I met Ducky in the A&E, he told me what happened, after I asked about Tony. It's quite extraordinary isn't it?" Gibbs nodded humbly and asked,

"Can I go back in there now?" He was too weary and used to the oddness to respond anymore to Brad's news, and only wanted to be by Tony's side. Brad grinned at him, his eyes still twinkling,

"Yeah, we should be ready for that x-ray now, but I don't think you have to worry about Tony being on his own." Gibbs raised and eyebrow,

"If you're referring to that nurse, I don't think she counts. Even if he did talk to her she wouldn't respond, woman's like a mime." Brad chuckled,

"I was referring to your other agent and ME sneaking through the curtains." Gibbs whirled around and when he strained his ears, he did indeed hear the muffled sounds of Kate and Ducky talking.

Not saying anymore to Brad, Gibbs slipped back into the cubicle, and was pleased to see that Tony looked much more like his old self. His cheeks were pink and he was smiling slightly, and as soon as the nurse turned around the baby quickly stuck his middle finger up at her, causing Kate to tut in amusement and exasperation and Ducky to chuckle to himself.

"Don't let me catch you doing that again kiddo." Gibbs said, causing the brown haired baby to blush and murmur,

"Sorry…" Gibbs merely carefully ruffled the baby's hair and turned to Kate and Ducky, while the nurse finally crept out of the cubicle, after giving Tony a lolly for being a 'good boy',

"You ok?" He asked Kate, who nodded, showing him the single stitch she'd had to endure.

"I think you guessed that we told Dr Pitt," She said to him apologetically, as he raised and eyebrow, "But Ducky said it would be easier, if for some reason they'd need to do something that might aggravate his lungs." Gibbs nodded, guessing that made sense, and felt Tony curl up tiredly beside him, sucking the corner of his blue blanket, whispering hazily,

"They wouldn't let me sleep." Gibbs curled his fists together in rage, but felt Brad's hands on his shoulder, and he relaxed slightly, still keeping a tight hold on the baby who snuggled into him,

"We're ready to take him to x-ray now." Dr Pitt said, just in time for Abby to run into the room, ready to sweep Tony into her arms, only for Gibbs to almost bare his teeth at her and snarl,

"His arm's broken Abby." She hung back, looking guilty, and immediately said,

"Baby, I'm sorry, how are you? You're looking better than I thought you would though. Are you thirsty? I bought some juice, and I don't know whether…" She was silenced by Gibbs' finger resting gently on her lips,

"Thanks Abbs." He said quietly, and took the carton off her. Putting the straw in, he coaxed Tony into opening his mouth, and swallowing slowly, making sure he didn't gulp it all down.

As he was drinking, Tony looked around at the team. His family. Ok, so McGee wasn't there (And he'd damn sure find out where the Probie was instead of here), but all around him were people who cared for him, and worried about him, and loved him. He couldn't believe it took him until now to work it out. Would he have worked it out at all if the whole body change thing hadn't happened to him?

He was taken from his thoughts when Gibbs slowly stood up from where he had been sat on the bed, cradling Tony as he stood.

"We're going to x-ray now, ok?" He asked softly, thinking that Tony was now almost out of it. In fact – he felt great. Ok, he still felt sleepy, and his arm hurt, not to mention the fact he'd just been held hostage so he felt a bit teary, but way better than anyone would have thought he would feel.

--

Having his x-ray taken was almost fun. He had lost count of the times he'd had to have it done before, forever 'walking into something' or 'falling down the stairs', and he'd forgotten that childlike thrill of waiting to see a picture of his bones on a screen.

However, he did have to go through the whole 'bending his arm into awkward positions while they zapped it with radiation' thing first,

"Now sweetie, you can have someone in with you. Would you like Mommy or Daddy? Or will you be a brave boy and come in on your own?" Tony at once tightened his grip on Gibbs (And his blanket) and the nurse who had asked him smiled gently,

"Honey, Daddy can't sit with you, he needs to go behind a screen, but you can keep your blankie with you, ok?" She'd managed to loosen Gibbs' grip on Tony to set him down on the table, and put his wrist on the board,

"Now you need to stay really still, ok? I'll be back out in a sec, and Daddy's right through those windows, see?" She pointed over to Gibbs, who nodded slightly, giving Tony a smile to show everything was ok. He sighed and pulled the blanket closer to his face with his only arm, sucking his thumb while he was at it. The machine overhead made odd thunking noises that made him glance over to Gibbs worriedly, but soon relaxed as the lights in the room came back on and he was swept up by Gibbs.

Getting yet another lolly, they went back out to the waiting room, where the team was waiting. McGee was now there, and waved awkwardly to Tony, before going back to the conversation he was having with Kate. Abby obviously ran up to man and baby and whispered,

"Are you ok?" Tony nodded but kept his grip on the blanket, making Abby smile delightedly, "Do you want to go look at the toys over there?" Tony had no wish to be parted from Gibbs just yet, but the older man slowly passed him over to Abby (Making him feel more like a package than anything).

Soon, Dr Pitt was back, x-rays in hand,

"Well you've definitely broken it Tony," He said, smiling sympathetically to the baby, who gave a small whimper, "We'll get you over to my good colleague, Dr Potter, and she'll put a cast on it. I want to warn you though," He said, a smile of amusement playing over his features, "Baby casts aren't fibre glass, they're proper Plaster of Paris, since babies are prone to chewing on them."

"So I don't even get a colour?" He asked pitifully, making Gibbs chuckle softly and cuddle him,

"Sorry kiddo, no. But I bet Abby'll decorate it for you." Tony grinned, but yawned,

"I'm really tired now Boss…" He whimpered, and was barely aware of being taken to Dr Potter, a short dumpy woman with smiley eyes,

"How are you chickie?" She cooed, before carefully rolling up his sleeves and wrapping his arms in warm plaster, surprised he didn't start to fuss, most babies did. However, she saw the poor little lad's eyes start to droop and when they were going (Poor Tony's arm now the same weight as his whole body) she offered him another lolly,

"You'll be lucky to get any big teeth, the way you're going through sugar." Gibbs murmured, to the amusement of the others. Tony simply sighed and went to sleep, safe in the fact that he was with Gibbs now, and he knew that Gibbs would rather burn his boat than let anything happen to his agent.

"I'm going to take Tony home." He said to the others. They had been at that hospital for about three hours, and were all sick of the hospital smell,

"Don't forget this," Abby whispered, passing Gibbs the blue blanket that Tony had been forced to put down while getting his plaster, "He might be a bit… temperamental without it." Gibbs smiled at her and answered,

"I think I can handle it."

**Hope you guys thought it was worth the wait. And loads of ideas fell into my mind tank at once, so there'll be a good few chapters left lol ;) Oh and also, check out my profile for some more artwork, this time by the brilliant JB5391 ^^ Review? xx**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you for all the reviews, I really love each and every individual one ^^ And CelticAngel18 and JB5391 have drawn magnificent pics for this story, again located on my profile :)**

Gibbs glanced over at Tony as he was driving home. The kid was staring out the window, his eyes occasionally going to close but he just kept them open, as if scared to go to sleep. He took great interest in prodding at his pot however, and was slightly impressed by how big it was.

Gibbs could tell that something was wrong though. He knew that the kid would still be quite scared over his ordeal, of course he would be - but he wasn't saying anything. He even gave Gibbs a smile when he saw him looking. The older man bit his lip. That was a fake smile, he knew.

"Tony, about today..." He started, and saw Tony freeze slightly, before answering (Too cheerfully),

"Yeah Boss?"

"...You can cry if you want." Tony looked up at Gibbs in amazement. Ok, he wasn't so surprised that Gibbs had guessed what he was feeling, but more that he thought Tony needed to cry,

"I'm fine. Why would I need to cry?" Gibbs looked slightly shocked at the sudden moody tone in Tony's voice and answered, pulling up at his house,

"You got your arm broken Tony, and kidnapped. They wouldn't feed you or change you and you'll have the emotions of an 18 month old." He said all this as if it was obvious, making Tony blanch and answer back,

"Remember when you chained me to a psychopathic killer? Or when I was drugged and kidnapped looking for a missing marine? Or how about when I fell out of a plane? Seriously Gibbs, wouldn't you think after all of these, nothing would upset me anymore? It's not as if I went home and cried for two hours straight after getting home from the whole Jeffrey White thing."

Appalled, Gibbs got out of the car and hastily round the back, unstrapping Tony and picking him up. Making sure the kid had a tight hold on his blanket, Gibbs went into the house. It was only then he tried to coax it out of him, cuddling him softly, That was all it took. That small bit of contact and Tony started to sob, his breath coming out in gasps,

"It was horrible," He wailed, "I thought you weren't coming!" Gibbs choked back the small sob that threatened to come out and whispered,

"Don't you ever think that Tony," He pressed a small kiss to Tony's head, "Don't you _ever _think that. I will _always _come for you - _always._ You got me?" Tony nodded bleakly and sniffed, trying to get rid of the tears,

"I'm just... being silly." He mumbled.

"No you're not Tony," Gibbs replied, "You were scared, which is completely normal. I'm just sorry I didn't find you sooner." The baby stuck his head on Gibbs' shoulder, probably leaving a trail of snot while there, and sighed. Gibbs merely held him, rubbing his back and hearing the soft breathing,

"How about some food?" He asked, and felt a nod against his ear. He stood up, and headed to the kitchen,

"Would you like beans on toast?" Gibbs offered, glancing up and down his shelves to see what they had. Tony snuffled and answered,

"Yes, thanks. Can I have a drink too?" He sounded so hesitant to ask that, so scared - that Gibbs wanted to throttle someone. Without a word, he poured some juice into a sippy-cup and passed it over. Tony tried to grab it, before realising he had a pot on his arm. Thankfully it was his left, so he still had full use of his dominant hand. Gibbs tutted in sympathy and muttered,

"They made it so _big_. I don't think you're likely to chew it off..." Tony smiled wanly and answered,

"What if I went to Tony Junior while I was asleep and accidentally started to chew at it, and then swallow some and choke?" He snickered at the pale colour Gibbs had gone, before whining,

"It's too heavy! And my arm's itchy!" Gibbs rolled his eyes but patted Tony's head affectionately and put a plate down in front of him, saying,

"You ok to eat it yourself?" Tony shook his head, looking up at the older man with a puppy like expression on his face. Gibbs raised an eyebrow, as normally Tony would whine until he was given the fork, but he didn't say anything, and picked up the fork himself, emptying the food into the baby's mouth with an almost weary expression. He wondered why Tony was suddenly almost insistent on being treat so babyishly. However, Gibbs felt himself relaxing as he fed him, and found he didn't mind - at all.

Soon, Tony was full, and smiled contentedly up at Gibbs, who softly smiled back. Lifting Tony up out of the high chair, he murmured,

"I think it's bedtime." At once Tony scowled and said,

"No. I want to stay here with you," He saw the glare he was getting and added, "Please? I really don't want... I don't want to go to sleep yet... I know I'll- I'll have nightmares about it..." He looked so downtrodden relaying this to the older man that Gibbs softened, and backed down almost immediately,

"Ok, but how about we just do something that doesn't require a lot of energy?" Tony brightened and suggested,

"How about a movie?"

--

"What about this one?"

"No."

"Erm... this one?"

"No."

"This one!"

"No."

Tony huffed and asked, "Why can't we watch any of them? I usually watch one of the Bond films when I'm hurt..." He thought this might make Gibbs' mind up, but instead he still got a firm and resounding 'No.' Whining pathetically, Tony pulled at Gibbs' trouser leg and asked,

"Whyyyy?"

"Have you seen the age certificates on them?" Tony frowned and glanced at the covers of the movies he had discarded. All of them were either 15's or 18's. He pouted and said,

"But I'm older than that!" He prodded at the box miserably and asked,

"Fine, what do you suggest?" Gibbs grinned and said,

"I got Abby and McGee to bring some round, they should be here..." The doorbell went, and the two younger NCIS team members made their way inside the house. They were each carrying a DVD, making Tony narrow his eyes as he tried to work out what sort of movies they'd brought. Abby immediately threw the DVD over to the sofa and picked Tony up (Mindful of his arm) and hugged him tightly, whispering into his ear. McGee took the more subtle approach of giving Gibbs the movie he was carrying and saying,

"I think I got an ok one Boss, you weren't very specific."

"Spefific..." Tony copied, before shaking his head, "Spe... Pesficic... Specipic..." Gibbs couldn't help but laugh and McGee had to chuckle as well. Tony frowned before pulling at one of Abby's pig-tails childishly and asking,

"What didya bring round?"

"I brought a movie that Gibbs said you might be interested in watching," Her eyes twinkled as she walked over to the sofa and sat Tony down gently, passing him his blanket and saying, "He wasn't very specific about which one, only that you'd probably like a Disney film." Tony's jaw dropped and he looked over at Gibbs, who stared right back until Tony sighed and dropped his eyes, asking,

"Fine. Which ones did you bring?" McGee showed his and said,

"The Lion King, and Abby brought..."

"A classic: Robin Hood!" Tony had to grin at her enthusiasm and said,

"Can we watch Robin Hood?" Gibbs took the DVD off Abby, who was crowing over McGee about the fact that her movie was chosen and not his. Slotting it into the player, Gibbs turned and said,

"Are you two staying?" Abby shook her head and said,

"We're making him over-excited, he needs some sleep. I love you baby." She added as they walked out the door, making Tony roll his eyes,

"I'm not over-excited at all!" Gibbs merely laughed at this and shook his head, ruffling the baby's hair affectionately. The opening credits started to roll, and Tony shuffled so he was against Gibbs more comfortably, eventually just sitting on him and clutching his blanket, dummy firmly in his mouth. Gibbs smiled at this, and pretended not to notice Tony giggling childishly to any bits that were purely for kid's enjoyment. He did however, notice when the kid's eyes were shutting slowly, and waited until he was fast asleep before turning the film off. It had gotten to near the end anyway, as Robin and Maid Marion were about to get married - but it was obviously too long for Tony.

Gibbs carefully laid Tony down in the crib, mindful about what the kid had joked about earlier about him eating the pot. He ran his fingers through Tony's hair and turned the light off, turning the baby monitor on and going downstairs, but this time he didn't go to his boat. Instead he rootled around the living room for a while, smiling every time he found one of the kid's babyish scribblings amid the general mound of toys.

**--Tony's dream/POV--**

"Does the brat want some food?" The man asked sweetly, his eyes glinting. He laughed as he practically force-fed the woman sat opposite me. She ate it, and I could tell she really wanted it - she was so hungry - but she didn't want to eat in front of me. Dammit I'm hungry! Why won't they feed me? I didn't do anything wrong!

Before I know it tears are leaking through my eyelids, and as the hot, salty water runs down my face, all I can think of is _GibbsGibbsGibbsGibbs..._

"Aw, look, did we make him cry? Get over it brat!" My eyes welled up, and I was aware of more jeering, but all I could think was that they sounded exactly like my father. That's what's really stinging right now. The fact that now it's my Dad yelling, abusing. Lacey's not the first person to break my arm...

**--Normal POV--**

Gibbs had only been downstairs for about half an hour or so, flicking through some paper-work he _really _needed to do, when he heard it. The baby monitor crackled to life and he heard the steady slow moan of a child who's about to cry, but they themselves don't even know it yet. And then there it was, the crying set in, sounding so heart broken that Gibbs ran up the stairs and pounded through the bedroom door.

Tony was curled up in a ball in the cot, covering his head with his blanket and cradling his arm in a defensive gesture. Gibbs reached in a slowly touched the boy's shoulder, careful not to frighten him. Tony jumped the tiniest amount and glanced up, tears in his eyes and whispered,

"Daddy?" Gibbs' heart flipped sideways but he whispered back,

"Yeah kiddo, I'm here. You ok?" Tony didn't stop crying but held his arms out in desperation. He needed to be cuddled. Needed to have attention. He needed to be babied. To be molly-coddled and played with. In short, he needed a proper childhood.

And Gibbs understood all this. In the one movement Tony had made Gibbs understood it all. That's what made him Gibbs. He did indeed cuddle Tony, and shushed him, sitting down on the wicker chair in the corner of the room and bounced him softly up and down until he'd calmed down enough to say,

"Am I in trouble?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow and lightly kissed just above the kid's eyebrow,

"No Tony, you're not in trouble. Why would you be?" Tony's mouth wobbled and he mumbled something along the lines of, 'The nasty man wanted me to be quiet...'. Gibbs clenched his teeth and he whispered,

"Tony, you can cry as loudly as you want. The only person who'll hear will be me, and I don't care, as long as you're ok afterwards. As long as you can tell me what's wrong." Tony gave a shadow of a smile but whimpered,

"I don't wanna go back to sleep Gibbs... Not yet, please don't make me..."

Gibbs stood up and shushed him, saying, "How about we watch the other movie Abby and McGee brought round?" He nodded and let Gibbs take him downstairs, and sit down on the sofa. Just before Gibbs went to put in 'The Lion King', he asked softly,

"Is it ok if... can I have a drink?" Gibbs felt anger well up inside him - who wouldn't let a little kid have a drink?

"Sure you can kiddo, how does warm milk sound?" Tony eyed him warily and said,

"You're trying to get me to sleep aren't you?" Gibbs shrugged and said,

"You got me. Doesn't it sound nice though?" Tony wriggled slightly in his seat before finally giving in and saying,

"Fine, but you have to read to me when you come back."

"I thought you wanted to watch a film?" Tony shrugged himself and replied,

"We already watched a film, I feel like a story." Gibbs grinned as Tony straightened out where he sat on the sofa, looking very important all the while. He looked so sure of himself as well, which made Gibbs chuckle slightly as he came back in with a bottle of warm milk and sat down.

"You got a story you want?" Tony shuffled, embarrassed before asking,

"Can't you tell one?" Gibbs quirked an eyebrow. Ok, to be fair, he had told Kelly stories that he'd made up, but that was different for some reason. They felt more like private stories, specifically between him and his child.

As soon as that thought came into his head he froze for a second, before recovering.

"Yeah I'll tell you a story," He said, before patting his lap, "Hop up." Tony crawled his way across, almost drooling as he saw the milky liquid sloshing around in the cup. Gibbs offered it to him, and was surprised (But had been expecting it _really_) when Tony pushed it back into his hands, that small gesture meaning he wanted to have it fed to him, he wasn't through with being babied yet, not by a long shot.

So Gibbs sat there, gently feeding Tony who was lying quite happily on his knee and relayed a story he'd told Kelly years ago. He felt a small pang as he realised it was almost like an insult to her memory, telling this strange baby in the house one of their private stories. _Sorry Kells, _He thought to himself, _But this kid is special to me too. _He still felt guilty about it though, and hastily finished it to make a different story for Tony.

In Tony's opinion, it was really good, full of action and adventure, but was quite cheesy in places, with elves living in mushrooms and so on, a kind of children's James Bond film. He listened happily, and hadn't realised it had come to an end. Now he was merely still lying on Gibbs' lap and drinking. He finished it though, and drifted in and out of sleep while Gibbs took him back to his room, changed him and lay him down, before running a hand through his hair (Which had almost become a bed-time ritual) and leaving the door open.

However, Tony didn't have anymore bad dreams after that, only slightly odd ones, about an elf in a tuxedo, who worked in Baltimore as a cop before becoming a 'better policeman' (Which was the phrasing Gibbs had used in the story) and being the pride of the force.

**Lol, cheesy or what? Sorry about the delay btw, my keyboard's decided its' sick of my ramblings and has tried to fight back 0.o Oh well, I think it's on the mend. Review? xx**


	23. Chapter 23

**Firstly, I want to apologise for confusing some readers lol ;) From now on, I'm gonna say 'cast' rather than 'pot' when referring to Toy's arm lol. Tbh I don't know why I call it a pot, I just do 0.o Anywho, thanks for all the amazing reviews and hope you enjoy this chapter ^^**

Gibbs grunted slightly in his sleep and rolled over... before falling off the sofa and catching his back on the sharp corner of a toy that hadn't been put away. Instead of anger flaring up inside him, he felt horrified (And obviously was in a fair amount of pain). What if Tony had caught himself on it? Cursing at himself for being so stupid, Gibbs immediately took the toy and put it on top of a cabinet, rather than binning it.

He gave a small jolt as a sudden peal of thunder came from outside, the rain had already been hammering down for a few hours, and it looked ot be like an all-out thunder storm. Gibbs sat down with a cup of bourbon and sighed softly. He loved nights like this. It could be absolute chaos outside, cold and rainy - but it was so tranquil in here, and Gibbs thought it might have been something to do with the fact that he felt so calm now that there was a baby upstairs.

He remembered how Kelly had been in thunderstorms, and shook his head. She'd had this irrational fear that the lightning would somehow get in the house and electrocute her, and nothing he or Shannon had said had swayed her. Lost in this memory, it took him a while to register what was happening elsewhere in the house. The baby monitor which had been sat on the side had given several bleats and Gibbs was only just hearing them. He glanced upwards and started the dutiful tramp upstairs to calm Tony.

The baby was huddled up under his blanket and was giving out small cries now and again. It always coincided with either a flash of lightning or roll of thunder. Of course, the rain hammering on the windows was doing nothing to help, so all in all - Tony was feeling jittery. He didn't poke his head out from underneath his blanket until he felt certain that it was Gibbs in the room. He didn't feel like trusting anyone else right now, even if Abby had come in and offered him a hug.

For some reason he just felt terrified, which was stupid - he hadn't been scared of thunderstorms since he was small, and had certainly never cried out in them. If his father was disturbed in his work, then he'd be punished, of course he would, it was just one of those things. But right now, he felt safe. He felt like, even if Gibbs was working on something really big and important, he wouldn't mind oif Tony started wailing.

So he'd started, and soon Gibbs had indeed appeared, as Tony knew he would. Like so many other times, the older man gently scooped ihm up and shushed him, bouncing him up and down and rubbing his back soothingly. Soon, Tony had just started to hiccough, which Gibbs took as a good sign, but instead of putting him back in the crib, he took the baby downstairs instead, hoping to calm him by sitting down there. Maybe - if the kid really wanted - he would even consent to playing a game with him.

It wasn't that he didn't want to play with Tony, if that's what the baby needed to be happy then Gibbs was damn sure he would do it, it was just... all that pretendy crap - he'd never been good at it, even with Kelly. Shannon was always the one who did that, played along with her being the Princess or her being a doctor or...

Hadn't Gibbs played doctors with Tony though?

Even if he didn't like playing pretend games, Gibbs was fine with the other stuff. Jigsaws, no problem. Colouring in, sure. He'd even agree to signing nursery rhymes and playing little games like the 'got your nose' thing he'd started a few days ago. He just didn't like the whole pretend scene. He thought that kids should learn pretty early on that life never goes how you want it, it will never end up with those happy endings in their games. Not that he told them that, he just wouldn't take any part in it. He definitely wouldn't tell Tony that. The kid was already pretty emotionally unstable, and Gibbs didn't want to seem...

Heck, was he no worse than the kid's father?

He'd thought that before, yes. But he'd been reassured by Tony that time. However, he doubted the baby would change his mind this second time. He could just picture Tony sitting down on the floor, toy stethoscope in hand... no, toy gun. Definitely a toy gun. Tony would definitely be the type of kid who knew from an early age that he wanted to be a cop. He could picture him sat there, and then looking up at Daddy DiNozzo, and asking cutely if he wanted to be the bad guy. That's where Gibbs guessed Daddy DiNozzo flared up, immediately ripping the toy from the kid's hands and yelling to stop with the 'pretend nonsense crap' because it would get him nowhere in life.

But that was exactly what GIbbs thought too.

Although, he thought panicking, that was just his idea of how it might have went. Maybe DiNozzo Sr hadn't been like that. Maybe he'd played games of pretend with his son all the time. Hell, Gibbs wouldn't be surprised if the guy had tried to get Tony to play businesses, and try to get him interested in the family business.

Tony gave another small whimper, bringing Gibbs back to reality. Now was not the time or the place to ponder Tony's Father's ethics. Glancing down to the baby in his lap, Gibbs said softly,

"How about we put the other movie on?" Tony gave a small nod, trying hard to be a brave boy and not flinch when the lightning flashed, seeming to come nearer and nearer to the house. He was even more nervous when Gibbs left his side to turn the DVD player on, and it got to the stage that, when the next roll of thunder passed, he had to be taken back upstairs to be changed.

Finally back downstairs, Gibbs shut the curtains and made sure most of his lights were on, hoping Tony wouldn't be able to see the next lightning strike. He also pumped the volume up, making it increasingly louder as the thunder came closer. Tony slowly forgot about the storm outside and became engrossed in the movie, smiling slightly as Simba and Nala started to sing, colourful birds of every shape and size flocking around them.

Soon though, it got to that bit that all kids hate in The Lion King. Mufasa was slowly slipping off the rock face, trying to claw his way back up, begging Scar to help him. Gibbs quickly glanced down at Tony, who cocked his head, thinking,

''Y'know, I think you're alot like that Boss,'' He said mildly, pointing to Scar, ''In interrogation. You keep pushing 'em, and pushing 'em, until you're their last hope, and if they confess to you, you can offer them a way out. Or that's what you say. Sometimes you just let them...'' He tailed off, as they both watch Mufasa plummet into hordes of wilderbeast below him. Gibbs quirked an eyebrow, not realising his interrogation techniques were being watched and taken in quite so thoroughly.

Gibbs was about to reply, but saw the tears sliding down Tony's face as Simba softly crept up to his Dad, begging him to wake up, they had to go home. Tony softly gripped Gibbs' hand, as if proving he was still there. He clung to the blanket he'd brought down (Bringing Gibbs to the conclusion that this was definitely his 'safety blanket') and sniffed, his thumb going to his mouth, before getting a face full of plaster and remembered his cast. He settled for the corner of his blanket instead, before Gibbs sighed one of those paternal sighs when Father's see their kid eating dirt or something, and carefully took it out of Tony's mouth.

He popped the dummy he constantly carried around with him into the baby's mouth instead, and lightly stroked his hair as he started to suck it without question and continued to watch the film, both fear of the storm and sadness at Mufasa's death long forgotten as Timone and Pumba made their entrance, singing about 'no worries', which Gibbs snorted at, resulting in getting a black look off Tony, who was obviously used to his movies being uninterrupted.

Gibbs grinned and rolled his eyes, getting a mini-elbow in his stomach, before lapsing into silence. It was fascinating to watch Tony when his attention wandered. The kid was focussing on the film, but at the same time, he was focussing on neither Tony nor Tony Junior. It was as if his body found a state of equilibrium between the two. He started to snuggle in Gibbs peacefully, but at the same time, Gibbs could almost _feel _the adult mind picking the movie apart, finding some jokes that would also keep parents entertained as well. He felt truly happy and peaceful, and Gibbs almost didn't want to move when the movie finished, but he could sense that the storm was now over, and even though Tony wasn't that sleepy, he'd would still be able to catch a few more hours of sleep before they had to go into work,

"Come on you," He murmured, standing up and rumpling his hair, before doing the same with Tony's, "I reckon you should sleep for a while longer." Tony frowned, but didn't say anything against it. Maybe he was more tired than Gibbs thought he was. He stayed completely silent until Gibbs was about to walk out the door, before whispering,

"Hey Gibbs?" The older man hung back, and glanced at the baby in the crib. He shifted, embarrassed, for a second, before looking up resolutely and saying, "You're not gonna... die, any time are you?"

Gibbs raised and eyebrow at the odd question. He knew that normal Tony was scared for his well-being, for _all _their well-beings, but this question was slightly out of the blue. He knew the kid was serious and although Tony knew that the question was ridiculous, Tony Junior needed to be reassured,

"Of course not kiddo. Anything else on your mind?" Tony shook his head, smiling sleepily, instantly reassured as Gibbs knew he would be by this statement. The older man nodded and turned the light off,

"Sleep tight." He whispered before leaving the door slightly ajar and wandering along the landing, hoping for a bit of sleep himself.

--

Tony stood up happily, rubbing his eyes with small, balled-up fists. After getting a bit of a knock on his forehead, he remembered his cast again and scowled. It looked _reasonably_ sunny, so Gibbs wouldn't mind if he got up _now_, would he?

After a few attempts, Tony managed to actually grab the latch that pulled the bars of the crib down. A normal 18 month old wouldn't have had a hope, but Tony was feeling quite adult today, as, even though he had never done it before, he's worked out quite quickly how to open it. Grinning, he managed to slip out without tripping over and toddled over to the door, frowning as he saw it had closed overnight.

Gazing around the room, he realised he'd have to get out. All of the toys he accumulated were downstairs, as he only used this room for sleeping in, so he would be very bored waiting in here until Gibbs got up. Having a thought, he glanced up to the shelf where the baby monitor was, before remembering seeing it downstairs, and he knew Gibbs had gone straight to his room after setting Tony down for the night.

Gritting his teeth, Tony hopped up a couple of times, hoping to grab the handle. He finally managed, and guessed his agility was due to his little extra boost of hyperness he'd gotten on discovering he could get out of the crib. He managed to open the door, the handle turning easily and the door swinging open. He grinned as looked down the landing to Gibbs' room, the door open slightly.

As he toddled down there, he slowed, thinking. What if Gibbs was mad? What if he got angry about it? He'd be worried that Tony might have hurt himself when going down there. He almost turned back, but shook his head at the thought of sitting in the boring room. Even if there were no toys in Gibbs' room, they still had fun together. So he continued until he got into the room, blinking at the light coming in from the window, where Gibbs had presumably not been bothered to close the curtains of.

Tony saw the figure of his Boss asleep on the bed, and decided he wanted to be up there too. It would be easier than opening a door, as Gibbs' bed was quite low, and Tony guessed he's be able to clamber up, even with a broken arm. Clutching at the sheets, he set his face determinedly and pulled himself up, barely pulling them anywhere as he was quite a light baby. When he settled himself comfortably on the bed, he pondered the different ways in which to wake his Boss up. Eventually, he settled for prodding him.

Gibbs blinked his eyes open slowly, feeling something poking him in the shoulder. He flipped over quickly, cursing himself that his marine instincts had failed him, before almost yelling in shock. Tony was sat on his bed, his eyes wide and shining, his mouth upturned in an unsure smile,

"M-morning..." He stuttered, now sure he'd be in trouble. However, Gibbs stared at him wide-eyes, before laughing,

"Nothing can keep you in, huh kid?" Tony smiled brightly, glad that the older man approved. Gibbs glanced at the clock, wondering what time they should start getting ready, before his eyes widened and he stared back at Tony, who shrunk slightly, not knowing whether he would be shouted at or praised.

"Tony it's... it's 6 in the morning. We don't need to be in until 8." Adult Tony broke through, and shrugged, giving the cheeky reply,

"Oh well, you're up now. At least you have loads of time to get ready, put on your day face." Gibbs spluttered and said,

"You know I can still head-slap you, baby or not." Tony knew he was serious, and asked,

"Can I play the broken arm card?" Gibbs rolled his eyes fondly and sat up, now feeling as bright and happy as if it was the middle of the day and he'd had at least two cups of his favourite coffee. He guessed it was the influence of Tony's mood, and shrugged to himself. Tony mimicked him before asking,

"So can we get ready? Nothing wrong with being in early. And I'm hungry." Gibbs smiled at his outright statement, and guessed adult Tony was out to play for a while. He couldn't believe he was about to admit this, even to himself, but he'd missed him. Those cheeky replies, those charming, fleeting smiles to various colleagues. Not that he didn't like Tony Junior either, he loved kids, obviously, and he like half adult Tony and Tony Junior. Making a mental note to talk to Abby about it and ask her to come up with a name for it, Gibbs got out of bed and picked Tony up, supporting his arm, which was drooping depressingly with the weight of the plaster.

''I'll make you a sling for that kiddo,'' He told him, ''Or else your arm'll most likely drop off.'' Tony grinned and asked,

"What is there for breakfast?"

"You've got a one track mind kid."

"That's what all my college girlfriends told me."

--

They were halfway through breakfast, Tony successfully managing to drop at least half a packet of Frosties on the floor, when the phone rang. As Gibbs got up to answer, he snorted as he heard Tony shout through,

"Now aren't you glad I woke you up? Might have missed this call..."

Gibbs picked up the phone and said, in an uncharacteristically chirpy voice, "Gibbs."

_"Agent Gibbs, it's me, Melissa Morrow, the Director's niece?" _Gibbs heart stopped for a moment, before replying,

"Hey Mrs Morrow, what can I do for you?"

_"I know that Tony's been in hospital, and he's got a cast on, and I have to tell you right now - I won't be able to change him until that's fixed." _Gibbs nodded and asked,

''You said something back at NCIS about having to take a look at him before completing the antidote?'' He felt her nod and she replied,

_"Yeah, would it be ok if I dropped in the office sometime today? It's not much, I just need to do a couple of things, ask him a couple of questions, it won't be that hard." _Gibbs glanced back into the kitchen, where Tony was flicking Frosties with his spoon across onto Gibbs' plate while he was out the room,

"I can see that Tony!" He warned, the kid immediately blushing and Melissa laughing,

_"Kids!" _She chirped happily, _"What are you going to do?" _

"Tell me about it," He chuckled, "So I'll see you sometime today then." She agreed and they said their goodbyes. Gibbs put the phone down, a feeling he couldn't quite place washing over him.

"Who was it Boss?" Tony asked, his spoon in his mouth as he swung his legs about happily, looking at Gibbs with that childlike curiosity. That was what got the older man. Even though Tony was in no doubt his entirely adult mind, his eyes were purely childish. After a moments hesitation, in which he pondered whether the kid's eyes would actually change when he did, Gibbs replied,

"No one Tony, just... no one at all."

**Hmmm****, Gibbs is feeling conflicted! ****Lol****, also, Dummy=Pacifier. I'm afraid that is staying stubbornly British ****lol**** ;) Review? xx**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks for all the reviews ^^ I feel awful not letting on what's gonna happen at the end, but you just have to wait and see :)  
Oh yeah, and there's more dialogue in this one than I thought there would be :( Sorry, but it might be worth it??  
Warning: Wee bit of language in this :)**

"You think Gibbs is going to kill him?" McGee asked Kate quietly as they discussed how Lacey had spent the night, sat in interrogation. Kate smiled to herself, knowing that as soon as Gibbs entered that room there was a good chance he wouldn't stop until he got blood all over the walls. Yeah, he might get answers pretty quickly, but he'd keep going.

"It depends who 'he' is and what he's done McGee." Gibbs said as he moved smoothly into the bullpen, his mouth jerking upwards into a grin as both McGee and Kate jumped half a mile into the air before turning around, Kate being pushed forward slightly as spokesperson,

"Er, we were just talking about Lacey, Gibbs," She said, glancing down at Tony who was scribbling on his sling with a felt tip, "He's been in interrogation all night, and is waiting for you." She grinned as Gibbs got an awful murderous glint in his eyes,

"Tony," He said, sitting the baby down on his seat, "Will you stay down here while I have a quick word with the Director?" Tony nodded happily, now drawing on some paper. Gibbs was about to bend down and kiss his head before realising that that may not be the best option - it was usually reserved for bedtimes or comforting, and Tony was in his adult mind mostly right now. He settled for a calm pat on the head and went up the stairs to MTAC.

Kate glanced over to Tony and smirked. Gibbs was undoubtedly in a good mood from the fact that A) Tony was happy, and B) He was going to kick Lacey's ass. Plus, she felt like a bit of fun,

"Tony," She started sweetly, "Want to play a game?" Tony glanced up eagerly,

"Strip poker?"

"Don't be disgusting DiNozzo," She admonished, before leaning back on her chair and asking, "What about truth or dare?" She snickered as she saw the flash of excitement in his eyes and knew how much he wanted to play - such opportunities just didn't arise so often. However, his face fell and he said,

"'M not allowed."

"Why?" Kate asked curiously,

"'Cause 'member last time we played? And Gibbs said if we did it again he'd... y'know..." She grinned at how frightened he looked at the Boss' threat,

"Tony that was months ago. And he wouldn't care now, you know what he does whenever you get in trouble." Tony grinned slyly at her and asked innocently,

"What do you mean?" Kate shook her head,

"Oh no, you do not need an ego-boost about he 'looks at you like a son' or whatever, so I'm not going to say anything." Tony shrugged, knowing she already kind of admitted what she wouldn't say. Instead, he grinned again and said,

"How long do you reckon it would take me to annoy McGeek so much that he'd try and hit me or something?"

"What?" Kate asked, thrown off balance, "McGee wouldn't hit a baby!" Tony thought for a moment before saying,

"Fine, how about we see how long it takes for him to make me cry." Kate tutted and asked,

"How will I know whether you're pretending or not?" Before realising the stupidness of the question and shook her head, "Tony it's _McGee_, I doubt he could make you cry." Tony shrugged and said,

"Fine, how long it takes for him to yell."

"And extra points if you get it within Gibbs hearing distance."

"Do I get extra if he only gets angry at Probie?"

"I guess."

"Then watch and learn." Kate grinned as Tony slid off the chair and toddled over to McGee, who was scrolling through some emails from his sister. She's attached some photos, and Tony clambered up onto a chair next to him and asked,

"Who's she?"

"That's my sister, she's studying at college, and we haven't talked in a while."

"Why?" McGee pondered this and said,

"I guess we just drifted apart, I mean, we were close as children, but when I moved out we just never really..."

"Why?"

"I was too busy, what with my studying."

"Why?"

"So I could get a good grade."

"Why?"

"So I could get a good job, and start my work at Norfolk."

"Why?"

"Well, I guess I really always wanted to join NCIS and..."

"Why?"

"Tony, you're doing this on purpose aren't you? Stop it."

"Why?"

"It's not funny..."

"Why?"

Kate giggled as McGee and Tony kept this up, before seeing Gibbs come out of MTAC. Giving a slight cough that only Tony picked up on. He glanced up and saw Gibbs, and quickly looked back at McGee, who did look ready to explode,

"Hey McGee," He said quickly, "Knock Knock." McGee sighed heavily but replied,

"Who's there?" Tony saw Gibbs walking down the stairs, so instead upped his annoyance plan to stage four,

"You've got something there." Foolishly, McGee looked down as Tony prodded him in his chest. The baby pulled his finger up so quickly that he accidentally stabbed the other agent in the eye. He bit his lip as McGee cried out in pain, before yelling at Tony,

"What was that for?!" Tony could hear Gibbs quicken his pace, having heard the shout. So, he blinked rapidly, feeling tears already falling down his face. _I would have _owned _acting school_ he thought proudly, before bringing some sobbing into it. Kate sighed as Gibbs stormed into the bullpen, gently lifting a sobbing Tony into his arms and growling at McGee,

"You had better have a good reason for this." McGee started to splutter something incoherent, and Gibbs started to feel quite sorry for him, before Tony brought it up slightly with some shuddering breaths and slight moaning, reaching his working arm out and lightly gripping some of Gibbs' hair. Even Kate felt her heartstrings pull (And she knew indefinitely that Tony was putting it on) at this performance. Gibbs glared harder at poor McGee and snarled,

"Go down to Abby and see if she needs any help." Kate could swear McGee was whimpering as he almost ran past her towards the elevator. Tony gave her a victorious grin over Gibbs' shoulder and she rolled her eyes, amused. He kept up the crying a little while longer, and eventually started to snuffle against Gibbs' shoulder. The older man bounced him slightly, before saying,

"You ok now?" Tony nodded but didn't let go of Gibbs' hair.

"Erm, excuse me, Special Agent Gibbs?" Gibbs turned, still rubbing Tony's back to see Melissa. She smiled slightly, before walking over and stroking Tony's cheek in a calming gesture,

"Ahh, he's lovely isn't he?" He nodded, dumbfounded as Tony held his arms out to this complete stranger, and clung to her sleepily as she swayed from side to side. She saw Gibbs staring and smiled shyly,

"I've always had quite a way with children. I was going to be a paediatrician, but I prefer my chemicals." Gibbs nodded and saw Tony drop to sleep.

"He's never done that," He murmured, "I'm not sure he's that good with strangers." Melissa smiled and asked,

"Would it be ok if we talked? Maybe in the cafeteria or somewhere?" Gibbs glanced at Kate, who was moving papers around her desk in an attempt to appear like she was working.

"Yeah," Gibbs replied, "Coffee'd be good."

--

"So... you haven't felt ill at all since you took it?" Melissa asked, smiling in amusement as Tony sat in the high chair, swinging his legs happily and gulping his drink, whilst answering,

"No, well - I was sick a couple of nights ago, but if there was anything wrong, wouldn't it be straight after I took it?" Melissa giggled as Gibbs sighed in exasperation and leant forward to wipe the spurts of juice that were constantly being thrown down the baby's chin. He stuck his tongue out at the older man and glanced back at Melissa to know the answer,

"Yeah, how did you feel right after changing?"

"Odd. Confused. I hadn't actually been told what was going to happen." He glared good-naturedly at Gibbs who chuckled and shrugged, before asking,

"So how long before we can change him?" Melissa shifted forward in her seat slightly and said,

"I was looking up on that a bit more after calling you. I can actually do it sooner than I thought, well, depending on other things."

"What kind of things?" Tony asked, having the sense to put his drink down before Gibbs would have to sluice him down,

"Well, how babyish do you find that you're acting?" Tony pondered for a while before responding,

"Quite. But sometimes, like now, I'm completely in control. And sometimes it's more of a mix."

"We found a way to turn him into 'Tony Junior' as Abby likes to call it," Gibbs told her, "So he acts completely babyish."

"But I still know what's going on!"

"Ok," Melissa soothed, as Tony looked quite bothered by it, "I just need to ask a few more questions. Like... do you feel like you need a parental figure more now? Have you ever, subconsciously wanted your parents, or maybe woken up wondering where they are?" Tony blushed slightly, and his gaze shifted ever so slightly over to Gibbs, who tactfully said,

"I need more coffee. Melissa?" She smiled at him and shook her head, and heard Tony answer when Gibbs had gone,

"Yes, and no. Like, I feel I need a parent more, but not my own..."

"What do you mean Tony?" She probed gently, wondering if he was saying what she thought he was saying,

"Alot of the time, I get really nervous if Gibbs isn't around, and... I guess I feel sometimes that I... I want..."

"You want him to be your parent." She finished quietly for him, and patted his hand as he nodded and blushed,

"Don't tell him," He begged her, "It'll just be awkward when I'm back to normal."

"I think he already knows," She responded, "But I won't tell him. Just, promise me you will, if things get to... bad." He raised his eyebrow, not sure what she meant, but nodded anyway. She continued asking questions (Which Tony thought were quite meaningless to be honest) until she smiled brightly at him as Gibbs took his seat back,

"Well, if you give me a few hours, I'll see what I can do." Both men's mouths fell open,

"Hours? As in, by tea time I'm going back to my own apartment?" Tony croaked, unable to believe it. Gibbs had the same expression on his face, and Melissa sensed there was more to his emotions than met the eye. Spreading her hands over the table, she said,

"Yes, I think so, I need to work on it though."

"I thought you were going to have to wait until his arm was better?" Gibbs asked, not sure why he wasn't feeling as joyful as he should be. Melissa smiled at him and replied,,

"That's what I thought, but Tony here gave me a run for my money. I know neither of you would really understand when I'll try to explain what exactly happens when I make this stuff, but I don't think it'll matter. Although," She paused, and looked at both men, "It might, because of the growing, keep your arm from healing for another, maybe month or so..."

"It's up to you Tony," Gibbs said, understanding what Melissa was getting at, "Would you rather stay like this for another couple of weeks or have a broken arm for a while longer as an adult?"

Tony thought. Hard. He was embarrassed to even think that he had gotten to enjoy this whole thing. He loved having absolutely no responsibility, and all the attention. And the whole 'better childhood' thing. What he liked most though, was being with Gibbs. It was like 24-7 father/son time, and Tony had to admit he loved it. He'd never get this ever again. Ok, he'd just be slowing the inevitable, as he would get changed in a few weeks when his arm was mended, but it was still more time with Gibbs. And all of that would go if he changed in mere _hours_, they'd never be that close again.

However, could he really cope another couple of weeks with these kind of reactions? What if he had to be... re-toilet trained or something? He wouldn't be able to cope with that, he knew. And what if Gibbs was acting all nice, but really, he was just putting up with him? What if Gibbs was seriously running out of patience with the constant demands of a toddler? And Tony was sure they needed more help on whatever cases they were doing. Maybe Gibbs was secretly wishing he did go back today?

"Tony?" he glance up, not aware he'd been thinking for so long,

"I think we should do it today." He replied, and was watching Melissa's face so his heart didn't have to break at the relieved smile he was sure would be on Gibbs' face.

He failed to see the flare of a powerful emotion in his Boss' eyes though, and the fake smile he had on whenever Tony glanced over throughout the day.

--

"Where's everyone going?" Tony asked, trying to keep up with Gibbs, Kate and McGee as they went over to the lift. Kate glanced down and took pity on Tony, picking him up before answering,

"Gibbs is finally going to interrogate Lacey." Tony spluttered and replied,

"Is that what he's calling it? Not torture then?" Kate grinned as they stepped out the lift, and lagged behind so she could say,

"So? What happened?"

"I got bonus points for getting McGee yelled at and not me."

"About Melissa, not our game." Kate replied, trying hard not to laugh as she was sure McGee had heard that, and was about to turn around and say something. Gibbs went into interrogation, before giving Tony a smile which clearly meant, _'I'll get him for you. I'll kill him if I want.'._

_--_

Tony watched through the mirror with wide eyes as Gibbs prowled around the man sat in the chair. He had clearly been there all night, and hadn't been allowed sleep. Right now, he was pleading with Gibbs, who growled,

"Why? Why should I let you out of here without a single broken bone? I think I owe Tony that much."

"Look man, I didn't know it was actually your kid, I thought it was just... something from Harley's old man's past." Gibbs eyed him critically and slammed his palm down on the table,

"Liar! I don't give a damn what you tell me or not to be honest. You know why?"

"Why?" Lacey asked, rather fearful, eyeing the hand that had not five minutes ago made contact with his face,

"Because I'm going to beat the crap out of you anyway." Gibbs retorted, glancing up at the mirror where he knew Tony was watching.

"Listen, how about we get a deal? I won't..." He was stopped by a fist in his mouth, and heard an ominous cracking noise as a chunk of his tooth made contact with Gibbs' hands, "Oww! You bastard!! I'll get you for this, I wish I'd fucking killed that kid while I had the chance!" Gibbs grabbed hold of Lacey's collar and threw him to the floor, until he was stood over him. However, Lacey grinned and drawled,

"I wonder if you'll ever know what it felt like Gibbs... to snap that brat's arm in half. To have that feeling of power when he's crying for food, or if he wants to go to sleep. And you're in charge of that. Completely in charge." Kate shielded Tony's eyes from inside the other room as Gibbs started to _really _hurt Lacey. It got to the point, after half a dozen kicks to the testes and when the man was nearly unconscious Gibbs was hauled out the room, breathing heavily.

"Er, Gibbs, I really hope I never get on the wrong side of you..." Tony said, eyeing his Boss warily. Gibbs nodded at him before breathing out,

"McGee, get this worthless piece of crap out of my interrogation room and into a small cell in the worst state prison." Tony grinned and was happy to get a smile back from Gibbs.

**I don't really think this chapter went anywhere... And I'm so sorry for not having like, weeks of Baby!Tony, but you gotta admit, after a while - it's all been written. Hope you continue to read the last few chapter :) Review? xxx**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hi ^^ Thanks everyone for being so kind and patient :) I feel really guilty about not answering anyone's questions, but seriously, they'll all be answered eventually (I hope lol)**

"You're kidding!" Abby cried out in excitement, "Really? A couple of hours?" Tony grinned at her as she bounced him up and down on her knee. Gibbs had been told to go and see the Director, and while he was confident he wouldn't be seriously punished for what he did to Lacey, he said he would rather have Tony in with Abby.

"Yeah, she said that I could take it in a couple of hours and I'd be _me _again." Abby grinned,

"And you're excited?"

"Hell yeah!" Abby looked down at her friend. She was the only one of all the team who Tony could talk to, _seriously _talk to. There were some things he wouldn't even say to Gibbs, and he knew that whatever he told Abby, she'd keep it a secret. She still looked at him, waiting for the moment he would back down and admit that there was something wrong.

Sighing, Tony began, "Well, I _am _excited for it, I mean, I really do miss my job, alcohol, freedom… I can't wait for our next movie night!" He said enthusiastically to her, and she smiled, remembering their last one, which had involved getting so drunk that they laughed all the way through 'Flesheater' and had tried to act it out, which meant they were both sporting bite marks on their arms the next day (Abby had actually drawn blood on Tony's),

"It's just… y'know, all this time I've got with Gibbs, and he's _not _always yelling at me or head slapping me, and you know how I… how I see…"

"You see him as a father figure." Abby finished for him, knowing her friend inside out.

"Yeah," Tony nodded, "And well, what if that all changes? Like, as soon as I turn back he goes back to old, mean Gibbs?"

"He won't Tony, you should know by now how much he cares for you, and how he sees you like a son. I mean, seriously, if he didn't, why has been changing your diapers for the past week?" Tony blushed slightly and nodded, before replying,

"Yeah but look, now he's nicer to me even in front of people. But when I go back, he'll continue to hit me at work…"

"So go round to his after work," Abby suggested, smiling at the thought of them playing happy families at Gibbs' house, "He'll be fine then, when there isn't an audience around." Tony grinned at her, but she asked,

"If you're so bothered about all this, why are you choosing now to go back?" She had heard that he could have waited until his arm was better, so was curious to know what had made his mind up,

"It's nothing, like I said before, I miss my job, our drinking games." Abby beamed, before lightly hitting him on the arm and saying,

"Don't lie to me Anthony! I know you're hiding something, and I can get it out of you faster than Gibbs can." She growled this threat menacingly, so he hastily spat out,

"I just don't think Gibbs can be bothered with me anymore. And also," He added, hurrying on before she could yell at him, "I'd still go through this all again in a couple of weeks when my arm's better, why delay the inevitable?" Abby shook her head, before cuddling him slightly and saying,

"Tony, trust me when I say I do know just how insecure you are. But really, what would make you think that? Did he say it to you?" Blushing, Tony shook his head, "Then what? You just assumed?" Tony cast his gaze towards the floor, and nodded softly, crying out in shock as he was hit across the back of the head,

"Don't assume." He heard Gibbs growl to him, making Tony look up at Abby, agonized,

"How long has he been there?" He whispered, getting in reply,

"Since you mentioned our movie nights." He closed his eyes,

"Sorry Boss." He felt himself being lifted from Abby's lap into Gibbs' arms, being held so close he could feel his Boss's heartbeat. There was silence in the lab for a few seconds, before Gibbs said,

"It's our lunch break. Abbs, you want to go out somewhere?" Abby bounced up from where she had been sat on her chair and grabbed her coat enthusiastically,

"Can I come?" Tony asked quietly, sounding devastated he'd been forgotten,

"It's what I meant by 'our' Tony." Gibbs said gruffly, putting him on the floor so he could put the baby's coat on. Buttoning it, his eyes met Tony's and they came to a silent understanding. For some reason, Tony knew his Boss was telling him they'd talk tonight, and he smiled at him, a warm, trusting smile that lit his eyes up into a bright emerald green, causing Gibbs's to light into a bright blue, the ice gone as for a moment all the pain in them vanished for a second.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Abby slipped her camera in her pocket.

--

Tony sat happily on Abby's lap, smiling as she tried to be discreet in her hugging. Gibbs had said he was going to get them all drinks, and she had suggested waiting in the play park. Tony snorted as he saw at once what she wanted him to do, but for the moment he was content in sitting with her, the cold mixing with her body heat to make him the perfect temperature. He gazed around idly, watching in the distance as Gibbs walked down the path carrying two coffee cups and a juice carton,

"There's another good thing about coming back tonight Abbs," He said to her, "No more juice. I'm getting kinda sick of it."

"Don't let Gibbs hear you say that." She giggled, and cuddled him some more. He rolled his eyes before struggling against her slightly,

"I'm bored Abbs, just sat here doing nothing!" She tried to conceal her grin and looked over pointedly at the park,

"Well, if you're bored…"

"I got the hint as soon as we came here Abby."

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Tony furrowed his eyebrows and thought. He _was _going back tonight, so it wouldn't be that bad to have a little play while he still had the chance, right?

"Fine, a quick go on…"

"I'll push you on the swings!" She burbled happily, bouncing into the play park, ignoring the mothers in there giving her nervous glances as she plonked Tony down in one of the baby swings and started to push. He clutched at the bars as hard as he could, his fingertips going white, terrified he'd fly out,

"Abbs, you look like you're trying to slingshot him outta there." Tony twisted his head round to see Gibbs stood by, an exasperated look on his face. Abby smiled bashfully and took the drinks off him, saying,

"Fine, show me how it's done Bossman." Gibbs glanced at Tony, who was quite pale from the whole experience. However, he nodded and walked round. Slowly at first, he started to push the swing, rolling his eyes as Tony started to giggled nervously as he swing up and down, slowly gaining speed until he was finally going the same rate he had been when Abby had been pushing. She pouted playfully, saying,

"It's not fair! Why can't I get him to laugh but you can?" Tony giggled uncertainly, not sure whether she was joking or not. Gibbs just shook his head and replied,

"You can't set them off to quickly Abbs, see how he was clutching on? It'll make 'em sick." She blushed and immediately took Tony out of the swing, who was trying (Unsuccessfully) to hide his grin, and how much he like it.

"We gonna drink now?" Gibbs asked, rolling his eyes as this wasn't heard over Abby's loud,

"Roundabout next!" She put Tony on the huge metal contraption and pushed it round, making sure she was going _much _slower than before. Tony grinned, but soon became dizzy, forever trying to fix his vision on Gibbs, who was stood off to the side, drinking his coffee with a small smile on his face.

"Can we stop now Abbs?" he asked softly, making the Goth slow it down immediately, seeing his green face. She hooked him out of it and hugged him, before passing him to Gibbs, whispering,

"You'll be fine, you're just a bit dizzy from the roundabout." She bit her lip however, as he stayed cuddled to Gibbs, closing his eyes in an attempt to stop seeing in double-vision. Gibbs glared at Abby, although not for very long as she put on a little puppy-dog face and patted Tony's head.

"I think we should head off now." Abby sighed but didn't complain as Tony stayed cradled to Gibbs' chest, eyes closed in half exhaustion/half dizziness.

--

When they got back, Abby said she had to go and check something in her lab, leaving Gibbs and Tony alone, as both McGee and Kate had yet to come back from their lunch. Gibbs smiled as he put Tony down in the pen and passed him the blanket, which he took and started to chew on as he fell asleep.

"Agent Gibbs?" He glanced up and saw Melissa stood in front of him, beaming at the baby, "I've got the antidote." She showed him some colourful liquid in a baby bottle and passed it to him,

"Already?" He said, gazing at Tony, who pulled himself into the foetal position and started to suck his thumb. Melissa nodded and patted his hand,

"You don't have to give it to him now," She reminded him, "Sometime tonight will be fine, and it takes about an hour to set in, so maybe before he goes to sleep, it's _not _a pleasant experience to go through awake." He nodded at her grimly, glancing back at Tony. Melissa sighed, and knelt down next to him,

"I know it's hard, trust me, I've seen it before, and been through it," Gibbs raised an eyebrow, inviting her to elaborate, "I lost a child," She said softly, eyes never leaving Tony, "He was the sweetest boy who ever lived. Matthew. He was only 2 when he died. Leukaemia." Gibbs stared at her, appalled. The only good thing that happened when he lost Kelly and Shannon was that he hadn't been there to watch them suffer. Melissa must have had agonizing days, where Matthew was in agony.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say, before she shook her head, and said,

"The point is, be happy you'll still have him after this. You'll lose your baby, but not your child." Gibbs rolled his eyes, hating how soppy that had sounded, making her quip,

"I know what I'm talking about Gibbs, I can see it with you two, he's closer to you than he ever was, and if you don't tell him that…"

"He knows." Gibbs told her, remembering hearing Tony and Abby's discussion earlier.

"If you don't _tell him_ he'll never be sure," She finished, "Tell him tonight, don't let him grow up thinking his dad doesn't love him."

Gibbs got a lump in his throat as he watched her walk away. That had already happened to Tony once in his life, and that was one time too many. He damn sure wasn't going to let it happen again.

"Gibbs?" Kate asked, seeing her Boss in deep contemplation at his desk, "Are you ok?" He glanced up, and nodded. Seeing he wasn't going to start off a conversation, she initiated it instead,

"What's that?" She asked, pointing at the antidote on his desk. Only Abby had found out what was going to happen that night, the others hadn't been told,

"It's the antidote Kate," He answered, watching her closely for a reaction, "He's getting changed back tonight." Her eyes widened, and she stuttered out,

"So… he'll be coming to work tomorrow? Actually physically coming into work without being carried or holding someone's hand?" Gibbs nodded, and had to bite back the chuckle that was forcing its way down his throat. He knew there'd be all sorts of jokes and snide remarks due tomorrow, but he didn't want any part in it. Standing up, he stretched and said,

"We don't have a case, and all your reports have been filed and handed in, I don't see why we can't go home now." Kate stared at Gibbs, amazed that he was being so nice, he hadn't really been in that good a mood since beating Lacey, no matter how good it had felt. She merely nodded however, and picked up her back, smiling at McGee as he went to sit down,

"What?" He asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes,

"We get to go home early tonight." She declared happily, watching as Gibbs was already walking towards the elevator, Tony in his arms. McGee's eyes widened and he glanced over to the elevator,

"Is something wrong?" He asked, "Is Tony ill?" Kate shook her head, replying,

"He's getting changed back tonight." McGee's mouth dropped open, before saying,

"So I can finally get him back for everything he got me into trouble for!" Kate grinned evilly. She started to ferociously write down everything they could do come tomorrow.

--

"Hey Tony, wake up kiddo, we're home now…" He paused, and laid Tony down on the floor on his blanket, surrounded by various soft toys. The phone rang, and he picked it up,

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"_Gibbs, it's Melissa, sorry that I'm _forever_ trying to remind you of stuff, but I just remembered something."_

"Not a problem. Shoot."

"_It's just I forgot to tell you back at NCIS that it's better if you keep him off work for a few days after today, he's going to need to get used to it all. I'd also really appreciate it if he had someone to look after him those days, he'll have quite a bad headache, and like I said, he needs to get used to it all."_

"It's fine Melissa," Gibbs said, almost robotically, "He can stay here a few more days." He felt her smile and she said goodbye. Putting down the phone, he glanced over at Tony, who had no woken up and was gazing at him, rubbing his eyes and yawning,

"Who was that?" Gibbs swallowed and answered,

"It was Melissa squirt, seems you're going to grow up sooner than you think." Tony's eyes bulged (In a cute way) and he cried,

"What? Really? When?" Gibbs snorted and replied,

"Whenever you feel like it kiddo, I got the antidote now, you just need to drink it." He saw Tony freeze in his fidgeting and say,

"Oh… Okay, er… how about we wait a tiny bit, just until…" He paused, not knowing how long to stall for.

"How does before bed sound?" Gibbs asked, "Melissa said it's not a very nice experience awake." Tony nodded, looking reassured as he glanced at the clock. They had a good 5 hours or so left. However, he stayed quiet, and didn't say anything until Gibbs said, hesitantly,

"Tony, about what you and Abby were saying…" The baby blushed and shook his head,

"It doesn't matter…"

"Yeah Tony, it does," Gibbs interrupted, "You know as well as I do that what you said was true. Of course this can't last, and you know that I can't treat you the same as I'm doing now, as how I'll treat you at work. But you must know by now Tony…" He paused, struggling, wondering how to say it, "You know by now how much I… I care about you, right?" Tony nodded, a lump in his throat, "I… ah hell kid, we're both pretty much emotionally crippled, so I don't need to go through the whole thing do I?" Tony giggled uncertainly, knowing just as well as Gibbs that he did. They both needed this. Seeing as how Gibbs already looked slightly uncomfortable, he started,

"I know you can't treat me any different at work Boss, but… I don't think it matters anymore. I mean, I always tried to convince myself that you were being affectionate with those head slaps," Gibbs chuckled, "But I do know that you care now Gibbs, and all I can say is… I wish you… I wish…"

"You can say it Tony." Gibbs said softly, you know I won't laugh. Tony blushed but managed to get it out,

"I wish my father had been like you," He said it softly and quietly, but Gibbs heard it, "Or… I wish you were my dad." Gibbs nodded, blinking hard to stop any unwanted tears getting out,

"Me too kid," He choked out, "Me too." Tony nodded against him and slung his good arm around the older man's neck, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Hey, listen to me," Gibbs started; bouncing Tony up so that he was sat straighter, "I know we can't be all…"

"Carey?" Tony offered, making Gibbs smile,

"Yeah. That, at work, but any time you want to talk, you'll know where I am. Just as long as you're not gonna use Abby's suggestion of coming round and being all… clingy."

"What's wrong with being clingy?" Tony asked softly, snuggling into Gibbs that little bit more. The older man sighed, and shook his head, laughing softly,

"Nothing I guess kid," He said, "Just… nothing."

--

They'd had a relaxing two hours simply watching a film that was on the telly, 'The Wizard of Oz'. Just as it finished, and Gibbs stumbled over to the kitchen to make yet another coffee, there was a knock at the door. Tony slid off the sofa and toddled over to see who it was as Gibbs opened it. He grinned at Abby came bouncing in,

"Hey Abbs," Gibbs mumbled, "Coffee?" She smiled and said,

"No thanks, but wait 'till you see what I've got." She held out a bag that had a thick rectangular object in it,

"What is it?" Tony asked, intrigued as even Gibbs paused on his way to the kitchen. She put her finger on her nose and tapped it, making Gibbs roll his eyes and grumble,

"I need coffee." Abby's eyes widened as Gibbs went to the kitchen,

"Wow," She said, as they sat down in the living room, "What's wrong with him?" Tony shrugged idly, picking up random toys before putting them down, not sure what to do,

"Dunno, he might be tired, we just watched a movie, and were really comfy." She noticed that the blanket was nestled on the sofa and smiled at him,

"So how are things? All ready for tonight?" She asked, jumping up and down in excitement at the prospect. He grinned at her and replied,

"Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. And…" He paused and lowered his voice, "I think everything's gonna be ok between me and Gibbs." Abby's eyes brightened and she laughed triumphantly,

"I knew it! Tell me everything!" Tony giggled and was halfway through his story when Gibbs stepped into the room, looking better now he had a cup of coffee,

"Ok Abbs, what've you got?" She grinned and pulled the bag up from beside her feet,

"Would you like to do the honours Bossman?" He raised an eyebrow, but pulled a book out of the bag. It was rather large, with material around it, and was obviously a photo album. On the front, it said 'Tony's early years', making him giggle and ask,

"Are these all pictures of me?" She nodded, and let Gibbs and him look through, and backed out the door, saying she'd call in tomorrow,

"When on earth did she take all these?" Tony gasped, his eyes wide as he saw all the photos stuck in the book. There was his crime scene, a picture of him playing dress up (Also courtesy of Gibbs), him chatting to Kate; thumb in mouth, him on the swings with Gibbs pushing, him asleep; curled up and clutching George, endless snaps of him, all amazingly cute. Gibbs smiled,

"I guess she wanted you to remember a good childhood instead of, your other one." Tony beamed at him, tears in his eyes,

"Thanks Gibbs. Really, this is… this… this is making me tired…" Gibbs smiled sadly. If Tony went to sleep now, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, and he would have to drink the antidote before going to sleep,

"You know you'll have to drink the antidote now…" He said softly, tailing off as Tony glanced up at him, his eyes closing and then being wrenched open.

"I know," He answered, "I'll miss this…" He slurred when he talked, and Gibbs was amazed someone could become that sleepy so quickly.

Picking up the bottle, he watched as Tony drank from it, again resorting to feeding the baby when he could no longer do it. When every last drop was drunk, Gibbs stood up, before sitting down again. He couldn't put Tony in the cot now, not if he was going to grow. He settle the baby on the floor and put the blue blanket over him.

"Night night Daddy…" He mumbled, rolling over and clutching at Gibbs's hand,

"Night night Son," He replied, tears in his eyes as Tony finally succumbed to sleep.

**I know it sounds rushed believe me, and I know this isn't how a lot of you wanted the ending to be, but how do you feel about a sequel ;) I'm not giving anything away now, but it'll be good, promise. May be a while though, so I'll give you a hint – what do you feel about adoption fics? Anyway, review? xxx**


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry if y'all thought that last chapter was the actual last one lol, though I think the next one might be. Thanks for all the reviews, I really do appreciate them all :)**

Gibbs had just gone to get a second coffee when a thought hit him. Tony (Who was snuggling happily underneath a blanket) was going to grow. That meant he'd rip the clothes he was wearing. And what about the cast on his wrist? What would happen to that when he grew?

Gibbs hastily went back into the room, knowing he only had half an hour or so before the kid changed back, _Damnit DiNozzo,_ He thought grimly, _Even when you're asleep you still manage to give me yet more work_. The tone of his thoughts softened as the baby rolled over in his sleep, resting his heavy arm on his side. Gibbs couldn't help but smile before quickly, gently and efficiently taking the kid's clothes off, leaving him naked under the blanket, as he was doing this, he was also calling Melissa, although he wasn't sure what she could do,

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Melissa, it's Gibbs. I only just realised Tony has his cast on, what'll happen when he changes?" He could feel her thinking hard, until she finally replied,

"_I know it's not nice, but you need to just keep it on. When he changes it'll hurt, trust me, but as soon as he does that we can take it off."_

"Why can't you take it off now?"

"_Because it takes time, and if he changed half way through, it wouldn't be good." _

Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew he'd wince and feel horribly guilty when Tony finally came to, crying in pain…no. That wouldn't happen. He'd be adult Tony by then, and he'd keep it bottled up. It all suddenly hit Gibbs, as he hung up the phone, staring at the baby, whose modesty was concealed only by a pale blue blanket. He'd never see this kid again. Of course he'd still see Tony, and whenever he looked into those innocent green eyes (It was just a feeling, but he knew they'd never change) he'd still see that cute kid, but damn… he'd never get over the way that had behaved around each other. What if he slipped up at work? Called him kiddo in front of everyone or – worse, gave him that smile he'd known he'd been giving him, that – not _simpering _exactly, but that soft, loving smile, that probably lit up his face. He almost snorted as he lounged back on the sofa, drinking his coffee. The thought of his face lighting up was absurd.

And what if Tony forgot? Did or said something that would require different treatment than what was normal? Would Gibbs really be able to push him away, see the hurt in his eyes as the man he'd come to trust more than anyone else in the world (Was that really any of a change?) would purposely do or say something that would make him feel so dejected.

And now Gibbs got to thinking again – _really _thinking. Was he even doing the right thing? It was a stupid thought, and he shook his head to get rid of it, but it just wouldn't leave him alone. After all, Tony needed his life, job and friends back.

So why was Gibbs wondering what might have happened if he hadn't given Tony the antidote?

--

There was a soft knock at the door, and Gibbs guessed it was one of two people. _Either _Abby, not being able to contain her excitement and deciding that she _had _to be there for when Tony came back, or Ducky, who knew him better than anyone, and would probably get there for a last minute talk about how hard this was for him, and asking him if he was alright. To be honest, he wasn't in the mood for either, which is why he actually went to the door. If it was Abby or Ducky they'd just walk in after a while, knowing that the door was closed. If he got there first, he could smoothly slide the chain across and act as though he'd gone to bed. He just had too much crap on his mind right now to listen to Abby talk quickly or Ducky drone on about some time when he was young. Gibbs knew he was being mean, but he was starting to get a migraine, and didn't really care anymore.

To his surprise, when he went to slide the bolt across, he saw that it wasn't Ducky's _or_ Abby's shadows outside. He withdrew the lock and saw Melissa stood there, biting her lip,

"Gibbs!" She began, apologetically, "I'm sorry to come here without warning, and I know you probably want to be alone, but I thought, seeing as how it'd hurt, you'd want that cast removed immediately. I'll go straight after that." Gibbs raised his eyebrows as the woman held up a saw that looked as though it had been stolen from a hospital,

"I didn't know they taught micro-biologists how to cut casts off." He remarked drily,

"I took a few years of med school, before realising I wasn't up to all the gore. Stayed there long enough to work up a vat full of debt and until I knew how to mend broken bones." She winked at him and he stood aside, shaking his head and smiling slightly at her words. The woman was quick; he had to give her that. And he liked how she knew he wanted to be alone.

"I thought you weren't going to do it now?" He asked her, as she saw Tony under the blanket, walking into the living room, "That if he changed it might go wrong…" He tailed off and saw her smile as she sat down carefully, as if scared to upset the balance of things in the house, that had a comforting, family feel to it,

"I'm going to do it as soon as he changes, which probably won't be long come to think of it. He'll be kinda out of it as well, so it'll be quite easy. As soon as it's off I'll stick a sling on it and if you want I'll come back tomorrow and put another cast on." Gibbs didn't know what to say. A complete stranger just a few days ago and already she was doing so much for him. For them. She guessed what he was thinking and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, as she had gotten up from the sofa by this point,

"Gibbs," She said gravely, "You're welcome. I know how you feel about him and well – I know it's none of my business, but you make a great father and son."

"Made." Gibbs pointed out gruffly, "Made."

"You still can. Ok, obviously you can't treat him as you have been for the past week or so, but in your own way, you can show him how special he is to you."

"We've already had that conversation Melissa," Gibbs replied wearily, "He knows now how I feel, and vice-versa." She didn't press him for anything more, and simply nodded, glancing at a clock and saying,

"It's probably going to happen pretty soon. You want to stay?" Gibbs bit his lip. He knew he really should, in case Tony needed him (And he was morbidly curious about what exactly happened during the change) but he suddenly remembered something,

"No, I need to get the spare bedroom ready, he needs somewhere to sleep." She nodded her understanding and watched him leave the room, smiling sadly at the way his shoulders slumped, the first time since she'd known him. Ok, it wasn't that big a time span, but she now realised that he was only mostly happy because of Tony.

--

Gibbs was heaving various infant paraphernalia out of the room, stopping every now and again to wipe his brow. He winced as he heard the muffled groans from the living room, and a hushed voice, probably Melissa's, before the sounds of saw being started, gently cutting into a cast that would obviously be putting an enormous amount of pressure on a broken arm that probably felt even worse now it had been stretched and twisted or something. Sighing, Gibbs finally managed to move the stuff into the room it had originally came out of and pushed the bed back in. It seemed like longer, harder work now there wasn't the anticipation of a baby moving in. He sighed again, and told himself to definitely not show that kind of attitude or voice those thoughts when he saw Tony. The kid was still not 100 percent certain Gibbs was happy to have him in the house, so the last thing he needed was to see that Gibbs felt disappointed.

Once the room was more or less straightened out, Gibbs started downstairs, holding a pair of his boxers, trousers and an old NIS top. He didn't have any of Tony's clothes, so until Abby came round tomorrow morning (Which he knew she would) with some, the kid would just have to make do with wearing _his_.

Descending, he heard his name mentioned once or twice, and guessed it was the right time to enter, as he could hear Tony's voice getting quite worried when the man who had been looking after him for a week and a bit wasn't there for him when he woke up. That thought made Gibbs' heart break so he entered the room, and made sure he smiled at Tony.

It was odd just how accurate his version of New-Adult-Tony was. He looked exactly as he remembered him, with the exception that his eyes were a brighter colour and whatever expression was on his face they remained innocent and curious, as if seeing things for the first time, reminding him of Bambi (Which he would probably think of quite a bit over the next few days, as Tony would try to walk normally). The kid was nursing his broken arm, and kept the blanket over his abdomen and crotch (It was amazing how _tall _he looked now), but he was still smiling happily as Gibbs entered the room.

"Hey Boss, long time no see." Gibbs grinned and answered,

"Yeah, about 27 years by the looks of it." Melissa grinned at the two men, before turning to Tony and saying gently,

"I'll get you a sling for that."

"I'll do it," Gibbs butted in, before she had a chance to walk away, "I did it before." He justified himself, as Melissa gave him an odd look, whereas Tony gave him a dizzy smile, before asking,

"Don't suppose those clothes are for me Boss?" He pointed at the clothes in Gibbs' hands and grinned again, wincing as he reached up to take them,

"Don't bother DiNozzo," Gibbs admonished, "Let me help you, you couldn't even hold a feather right now." Tony shrugged but mumbled,

"Some things never change, huh Boss? Still unable to clothe myself..." Gibbs smiled slowly, shaking his head as Tony was ready with thousands of come-backs to use in the event of Gibbs saying something that could be connected with the last week. He helped Tony slowly stand up, and quickly sat him on the sofa as he threatened to fall over,

"Gonna have to work on the whole walking thing - again." Tony sighed, closing his eyes.

Melissa, picking the saw and broken bits of plaster said, "I did say he'd be pretty out of it." Gibbs just nodded and asked, as she said goodnight and went to go out the door,

"Where did you even get the saw from?" She grinned wickedly and only said,

"Get better soon Tony, I'll see you tomorrow." Before opening the door and disappearing. They were silent for a moment, as Gibbs remembered various incidents that had happened in this very room, before Tony yawned, bringing the older man to the present,

"I moved a bed into your - the spare room, so when you're ready." Tony nodded, but remained sat back on the sofa, his eyes closed lazily and his arm resting on his stomach. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Gibbs cautiously pulled the top over the younger man's head, biting his lip as he maneuvered it around his arm,

"Sorry." He murmured, as Tony yelped in pain. He got to the boxers, but Tony insisted on doing those himself, inching into them while Gibbs got him some water. When the ex-marine came back into the room, Tony was still sat on the sofa, but had his trousers on. He had clearly lost weight, as they (As well as the top) hung off him, giving the impression of a little kid playing with their parent's clothes. _Wouldn't be the first time,_ Gibbs thought, smiling. He whistled gently and brought the younger man back to Earth, saying,

"Ok kid, you're going to bed now. And I don't want to see you out of that room until it's at least lunch time tomorrow, you got that?" Tony smiled exhaustedly and grimaced as he was slowly brought to his feet, saying slowly,

"Won't be a problem Boss..." Gibbs gripped him solidly around the waist and made sure his arm was well pinned to his chest before attempting to take Tony upstairs. He was definitely having trouble walking, and kept shooting apologetic glances at his Boss, who was having none of it, tutting every time Tony tried to apologise,

"Sorry Boss, I just..."

"Save it DiNozzo, it's fine. Hell I didn't even expect you to be this steady." At this moment Tony slipped and Gibbs only just managed to pull him back up in time. He blushed, and said,

"Guess you spoke too soon, huh Boss?" Gibbs rolled his eyes and said,

"C'mon kid, you can't even keep your eyes open." Tony grinned at him but closed his eyes, letting Gibbs simply guide him to the room he'd slept in for the past week. He felt himself being gently laid on the bed, and a smooth, crisp sheet pulled over him, mindful of his arm. He slept immediately, not even noticing the small peck on his forehead, as if someone had lovingly kissed him goodnight.

--

He blearily opened his eyes the next morning, blinking in the sun. It was so bright, he guessed he'd made it to lunch time as Gibbs had ordered, not awfully sure whether the older man had been joking or not. He sat up slowly, stretching his one good arm and actually physically jumping in shock at the length it went out to. He felt really exposed as well, as though he wasn't as covered up as he should have been. It wasn't that he _missed _the feel of the diaper - hell he never thought he'd ever feel so happy about being able to feel he needed the toilet - but it was odd that there wasn't that thickness there anymore. Refreshing nevertheless but odd.

He ruffled his hair with his good arm and decided that before he did anything he needed to visit the head. There was the one small problem of walking though. He knew from last night he wouldn't be running in a hurry, and expected it was simply because he wasn't used to the length of his legs. And he walked differently now. Before it was a kind of toddle, now it was a proper walk, and he furrowed his eyebrows slightly, as if trying to figure out to do it.

"Need help kid?" Gibbs asked softly from where he'd been leaning against the door frame. Tony blushed but stammered out,

"I guess I need a bit of a hand going to the head. Just to get there," He added quickly, "No help required _once_ there, but I need to... to..."

"Get there." Gibbs finished for him, playfully rolling his eyes before gently taking one side of the kid's body and pulling, standing there for a while and letting Tony get used to just having the correct balance, before slowly walking forward, making sure he had the same rhythm as the older man. They finally made it to the bathroom, and Gibbs stood outside the door, feeling weirdly proud as he heard the taps running, indicating Tony had managed to walk over to the sink. The door opened and he looked out, his face looking distinctly relieved as he saw that Gibbs was still there.

"You hungry?" He asked, and got a nod. It wasn't very enthusiastic, but it was still a nod, "Melissa's here again," He informed Tony as he helped him downstairs, "She's going to do you a new cast." Tony nodded once again, taking the information in as they rounded into the kitchen, where there was a place already set out for him at the table. Glancing at the clock as he sat down, Tony noticed it was half 12, glad he could now tell the time.

"Afternoon Tony." He heard from the corner, and glanced over to see Melissa stood there, smiling at his flushed appearance,

"I have to say," She said, "Your face looked much fuller and wholesome yesterday." He laughed easily and replied,

"Babyfat. It was just a stage." Gibbs chuckled and set a bowl full of porridge in front of him, as well as a cup of juice beside it. Tony didn't say anything about the juice, but made a face at the older amount when he saw the amount in his bowl,

"You need feeding up." Was all he offered, before turning to his own piece of toast and customary cup of coffee. Tony just shook his head before asking Melissa,

"Don't suppose you could do my arm now could you? It's kinda nervewracking always on the look out for things that might hit the sling." She smiled prettily at him and nodded, saying,

"My son has a football game soon, so I was hoping to do it now anyway." Tony bit his lip, about to apologise for her maybe missing the start of the game, before he got a slap to the head,

"Hey!" He cried out, "What about the whole broken arm thing?" Gibbs smiled, his eyes glinting,

"You can only use that once," He explained, before adding, "Now come on, if you're not walking by dinner you're going to have more than one arm broken."

"What, you're threatening me to walk?" Tony asked, bemused, although he could see the twinkle in his boss's eye. Melissa had merely kept quiet throughout the exchange and had been worked quickly and efficiently to wrap the cast around his arm. It was finally done when Gibbs finished his coffee, making Tony chuckle when he immediately got another when the younger man accidentally spilt his drink everywhere,

"I'll see you late Tony, Gibbs." The young woman said happily to them,

"Tell your son I said good luck." Tony called after, to which she waved behind her shoulder and shut the door.

They were finally alone.

**So, next chapter may in fact be the last :) I'm gonna be quite sad when this finished, though with the whole sequel thing it'll be ok :) Oh yeah, one more thing, I don't know how old Tony is, so I just guessed 28 lol. Review? xxx**


	27. Chapter 27

**And so we come to the end :) I really love you all, and thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited and read it :) I want to give a few special mentions, Crying Cowgirl, for help with everything 'baby' :P And everyone who drew pictures; Gibbslet, JB5391 and CelticAngel18 :D  
This may be a weird time to mention it, but I'm assuming everyone else got an email about the NCIS fanfic awards right? Well it said to advertise them on whatever, so here:  
h t t p : / / w w w . f a n f i c t i o n . net/u/1943933/ (Just get rid of the spaces :P) That's where you go to get more info about how to nominate stories :)  
P.S. Extra long chapter as thanks for all the reviews :)**

Tony scrunched his face up in frustration. He was sat at the table in the kitchen, tapping his fingers on the side of his bowl. Gibbs sighed wearily and said,

"Tony, I've only had 2 cups of coffee today, and I'm sure that at some point now Abby and Ducky will be coming round, and I'm not in the mood to explain why you haven't eaten today." Tony glared darkly at the older man. He'd been having trouble swallowing, as though he had a lump in his throat, like he was about to cry. He swirled the porridge around miserably in the bowl with his good hand, and rested the other elbow on the table. It clunked heavily with the cast, making him sigh softly, and continue to stare deep into the porridge.

Gibbs didn't know what to do. He'd know what to do if Tony was _refusing _to eat, but it didn't seem like that. He'd been keeping a gentle eye on Tony throughout the meal, from since Melissa left, and had seen him push the food around in the bowl. Once or twice he saw the younger man attempt to eat, but he'd almost retched and slowly put the spoon back.

"Tony, what's wrong? Tell me." The order was ringing with authority, and Tony had to obey, but he felt like he _needed_ to as well. The last week had been a roller coaster ride, and he and Gibbs had been on it together. Their relationship was so much better, so much healthier. He knew he could tell his Boss whatever, and he'd help the younger man get through it, but part of him wished for a simpler way. A way that Gibbs would instantly know what he needed. It had been that way just a few days ago. Why had it suddenly changed?

"I can't eat this." Tony gabbled out quickly, making Gibbs do a double take. The kid wasn't exactly picky, and it wasn't like he hadn't eaten porridge before,

"You can make some toast if you want." Gibbs offered slowly, waiting to see how it played out. Tony shuddered at the thought of toast. It would be too scratchy, too hard to swallow. He didn't want to suddenly start choking, spewing crumbs at Gibbs,

"No, it's fine, maybe I'm just not very hungry." Gibbs raised an eyebrow and said,

"Tony, you're never 'not hungry'. What is it?"

"I just can't eat right now, ok?" Tony spat out, glaring at his Boss in anger. Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone? Tony wouldn't probe into him about something that would clearly be _his_ business.

"Try." Gibbs snarled at him, making Tony shrink back in his seat, green eyes staring at Gibbs, seeking forgiveness. The older man sighed - why couldn't he do anything without feeling guilty about it? He knew it would take a while to get over Tony Junior, and he also knew Tony would be feeling the same. So why the constant struggle inside him?

In one corner you had Gibbs. Normal, rough, marine. Gibbs. The one who could yell and punish and order all day long, knowing that all of that was merely shaping his agents - pushing them to be as good as they could be. In the other corner you had the parental side of him struggling. It constantly conflicted with normal Gibbs. What was so hard, it asked him, about a simple smile, or a kind word. Surely a hug wouldn't be out of the question?

And it was here that Gibbs finally snapped. He knew how to balance them; he'd been doing it all this time. Even while DiNozzo was smaller, he still would talk to him like he would his agent. Ok, he'd be less sharp, but he'd still talk normally. In a few situations he'd talked to him as Tony Junior yes, but the kid had clearly needed that. It was as if he had been completely starved of affection.

Suddenly standing up from his seat, he went over to where his Senior Field Agent was sat. Tony shrank backwards, worried about an impending head-slap, or the spoonful of porridge that might be force-fed down his throat.

"Boss I..." He paused, having no idea what he was going to say. However, he was stopped from saying anything when Gibbs bent down slightly and - out of nowhere - gave him a hug.

--

That was how Abby and Ducky had found them. Gibbs had been completely right in his assumption that both would turn up sometime today. Abby was bouncing about happily, wondering if her friend had changed at all. She knew that was stupid, but she really thought something about him would be different. Ducky had agreed to come with her, wondering how all of this was affecting both Tony and Gibbs. He was worried about Tony's arm as well, so wanted to give him a quick check-up as well.

"Door's open." Abby said to him, smiling as she walked in casually, as though she lived here. The M.E followed, not _hesitant_ exactly, he'd been here plenty of times before unannounced. But he wondered whether they may interrupt something. He was half-right, as he followed Abby into the kitchen, where they could smell the coffee and porridge.

Abby had paused in the doorway, grinning brightly as she saw Gibbs giving Tony a warm hug, that the younger man clearly enjoyed. He had his eyes closed lazily and had his head resting on the older man's shoulder, his face calm. Gibbs too was calm, but his eyes were still open, and he saw Abby and Ducky approach. He didn't push Tony away, as they both suspected his would, but, in an attempt to rouse Tony to the fact they were stood there, he said,

"Hey Abbs, Duck, come in." Tony opened his eyes and slowly took his head off Gibbs' shoulder, giving him a tiny smile before turning to see his workmates smiling sadly at the door. Gibbs stood up, his arms now by his sides as he went to put the kettle on.

"Tony!" Abby all but shrieked, running over to him. She paused momentarily to take in his eyes when he looked at her fully. To someone who didn't know him as much as Abby or Gibbs, there wasn't a change at all, but she could see. She saw that bright, childlike spark of curiosity and innocence in them, making them a brighter green. It was such a startling shade that she wondered if he'd put in contact lenses, but shook her head to clear it. In an instant the eyes were back to normal. Still childlike, but the same colour. However, it had somehow warmed her, and she felt exceedingly happy for some reason - more so than usual.

"How are you?" She asked, plonking herself next to him, "I haven't seen you since you were _this _big!" She crowed happily, demonstrating with her hand reaching down by her knees. Tony laughed, knowing that was probably one of the nicer digs he'd get today.

"Thanks Abbs. I'm fine, just finishing breakfast." Abby noticed that there was a full bowl in front of him, but reasoned to herself he'd probably already had some. This theory was shot down however, when Gibbs spoke up,

"Yeah you are DiNozzo. I want to see you eat at least half of that before you go anywhere."

"Tony!" Abby yelled protectively, "Why aren't you eating?"

"Abigail's right, my dear boy," Ducky added, "You need to eat, especially with the drastic change that happened in your body not 24 hours ago." Feeling hopelessly ganged up on, Tony held up his hands in mock surrender and said loudly,

"_Thankyou _everyone, but seriously, I'm fine, I don't need..."

"Eat!" Abby yelled sternly, and grabbed the spoon viciously from his hands, "If you don't, I'll feed you. It'll be like a blast from the past, but I don't care. Eat!" Tony blinked at how worried she sounded. He hung his head, ashamed of failing her - failing them all.

"Sorry Abbs," He mumbled, "But I actually _can't_. It's like that feeling you get when you're grieving. You know? The whole lump in the throat thing? Whenever I try to eat something it just gets stuck..."

"Don't be ridiculous Tony," Abby said in a 'no-nonsense' tone, "This won't stick, so open up!"

"Abbs I already said I can't!" Tony cried, somewhat desperately. He glanced up to Gibbs for help out of habit, and was surprised when the older man came forward and started to rub his back soothingly,

"Eat, Tony." He said, and felt the younger man's shoulders relax as Abby's eyes never wavered from his own. He slowly took the spoon back from her and started to tip the porridge down his throat, closing his eyes in relief as it smoothly slipped down, helped by Gibbs' hands resting gently on his shoulders, patting them every so often.

"The 'lump in the throat' situation may be correct," Ducky said, as they were all quiet, "You likened it to grieving Anthony, and you may well be grieving your lost youth unconsciously. You may be feeling lost and depressed, but this could be due to the fact that your emotions have changed rapidly along with your body. You have suddenly gone from being a rather clingy 18 month old to being a 28 year old federal office who keeps all of his emotions bottled up." **(A/N, I kept his age at 28, but thanks to the reviewer who put me straight ;))**

Tony shrugged at the explanation,

"It makes sense," He muttered, before pushing the bowl away from him and saying, in answer to numerous glares from around the room, "I'm _not _hungry anymore, ok? When I am, you'll be the first to know, trust me." They all looked unsure, but his face was set so determinedly that they all shrugged as well,

"How about we move this party to the living room." Abby suggested, and looked up eagerly at Gibbs, who nodded and said,

"You help Tony, me and Ducky'll go." Tony chuckled as Abby looked as though Halloween had come early. She nodded happily and got up, saying,

"How much help do you need?" He shrugged, and said,

"Just remember the whole broken arm thing, Gibbs seemed to forget about that." Abby looked appalled, but watched as Tony stood up, only wobbling slightly. He smiled proudly and said,

"It's better than I could do this morning." Abby smiled and nodded, holding out her arm for him to lean on. He stumbled slightly as they started, and Abby was reminded very much of Bambi. Tony looked to be torn between different ways to walk, suddenly changing the rhythm of his steps or moving his feet in a different way. Not being able to help herself, Abby said sweetly,

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather crawl Tony? You might find that easier."

"Har bloody har." Tony growled, gripping her arm slightly harder than he was previously doing. They paused as they heard Gibbs shout from the living room,

"Abbs, leave him alone, DiNozzo, remember what I said about walking!" Abby raised an eyebrow,

"He said if I'm not walking properly by tonight he'd break my other arm." Abby started to giggle, which was so infectious that Tony had to as well. When they finally made it into the living room (With Abby walking Tony round the hall a few times to make him stronger) they were both laughing hysterically, as they flopped onto the sofa.

"Kids," Gibbs grumbled under his breath, before saying, "He's all yours Duck." Causing Abby to start giggling once more, at Tony's expense,

"What d'you mean Boss?" Tony asked, panting as he got his laughter under control,

"I just want a quick look at you Anthony," Ducky said to him, "Just to check there's no lasting damage."

"Oh." Was all he got in response. As Ducky carefully examined him, commenting on how good the cast was, Tony started fidgeting. He was bored already, and couldn't keep still. However, nor could he get up and pace about, and a run was out of the question. Gibbs saw how bored he was, and saw Abby signing to him,

_Put the TV on. Take his mind off it. He's annoying me being so fidgety. _Gibbs chuckled and signed back,

_What does he like to watch? _Abby grinned and suggested,

_How about one of those films me and Timmy brought round? _Gibbs could feel himself smiling, but couldn't resist the temptation to stick the DVD in. He tried to fight with himself, and told himself how embarrassing it would be for Tony, how confused he'd be, wondering why they were putting children's films on. However, Abby looked like she was about to hit Tony any minute, and Ducky was already telling him off, so Gibbs stuck the movie into the player.

He turned the volume down a bit, so as not to disrupt Ducky, but could tell it was helping. Tony's eyes were being drawn to the screen, and he became steadily still, resting against Abby as he watched the beginning bit of the Lion King come on, not really aware he was doing it, but still watching, and Gibbs saw a smile pull at the younger man's features every so often.

"Well young man, you appear fine, but I would suggest an early night. Jethro, I think he's quite fit to come back tomorrow, as long as he can walk fine." Gibbs nodded, knowing Melissa had told them he should have a few days off, but he trusted Ducky _more_.

"Hey Tony," Gibbs said, getting Abby to shake his leg slightly, "Tony..." Tony looked up, from where he had been falling asleep on top of the Goth girl, who had been smiling benignly,

"Go to bed kid, we're going to work tomorrow, if you're up to it." Tony glanced up at Ducky, who said,

"Your body is trying to adapt to how it has changed my boy, I suggest you sleep for as long as you want, you'll soon find it reaches a state of equilibrium." Tony didn't understand half of what Ducky had said, being so tired. He didn't understand alot actually. He had been fine a few minutes ago, but as soon as he starts watching this film - bang, he's suddenly shattered.

Gibbs stood up and said,

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to help him to bed. There's more coffee in the kitchen." Abby and Ducky nodded, as Gibbs hauled Tony to his feet, who was slightly more balanced, thanks to Abby who'd walked him around for quite a long time.

"See ya Abbs, Ducky..." Tony mumbled as he slouched past them, only requiring Gibbs' help for a small part of the journey.

"How is he really Ducky?" Abby asked, sensing something about the M.E's tone that meant he was hiding something. He sighed tiredly, knowing Abby would get it out of him.

"Physically he is fine. I'm only slightly worried about how his mental state will be, but I'm sure he'll be fine. It's just... there was something different about..."

"His eyes," Abby interjected, "His eyes. They're really bright and childlike. First time I saw them they were a really intense green colour, but then they were... normal." Ducky nodded, and said,

"I'm sure it's nothing. It's just odd that his eyes have remained unchanged." He pondered this for a while, but didn't bring it up again, even when Gibbs came back downstairs.

--

Gibbs glanced up from his toast when he heard the sound of bare feet padding down the stairs. Tony entered the kitchen, yawning his 'Good morning' and rubbing his eyes with a bunched up fist, the other hanging by his side, drooping with the weight of the cast. His hair was tousled, straight from sleep, making him look at least 10 years younger.

"How's your walking?" Gibbs asked, pouring the younger man a drink. Tony chuckled slightly and murmured, still half asleep,

"Why don't you stick a sign on my back saying, 'How's my Walking? Call...' and then my phone number." Gibbs rolled his eyes but didn't rise to it, knowing how scared Tony was about work. He knew how many jokes would be told, how many small digs, how many mentions of what had happened would resound around the office. He also knew that Kate would _definitely _have a thing or two to say...

"Go have a shower, then I'll make you a sling for that arm." Tony nodded a stumbled out, much more stabilised than yesterday, and was perfectly capable of walking on his own. Although Gibbs did he see him clutching to the banister of the stairs, tripping up them once or twice - the way an over excited child would on Christmas morning, running upstairs to show their parents what they'd gotten.

Gibbs shook his head as he heard the shower running, and got a sling ready from the first aid kit in the kitchen. He seemed at a loss of what to do, all he had to do now was to wait. He didn't have anything to keep him busy, like he would have 2 days ago. 2 days ago he would have been trying to change, dress and feed a hyper 2 year old, whereas now... he glanced up at the ceiling, hoping Tony wasn't getting his cast wet.

He shook his head, trying to clear it of Tony. But as soon as he got rid of that thought another was in its place, wondering if he should start clearing up the kid's toys, only to remember they weren't spread across the living room anymore. While Tony slept - And he had slept almost 24 hours - he had cleared everything away, Abby snaffling some things from him before he could store them in the attic. Ducky hadn't asked why he didn't just throw them out or give them to charity, but watched with a half curious/half amused expression on his face.

He'd been sat there pondering for so long his coffee had gone cold, and he heard Tony coming back down the stairs. Thankfully, the cast remained dry, and true to his word Gibbs pinned a sling around it, frowning slightly when he saw the younger man was still wearing his clothes,

"Do you want to stop off at your apartment on the way in, get some of your own clothes?" He asked, but was surprised when Tony declined the offer of putting on one of his expensive suits - opting instead for a pair of sweats and a comfortable, if somewhat baggy, tee-shirt. Gibbs just shrugged. If the kid wanted to be comfortable, then he could wear as many of Gibbs' clothes as he liked.

"Hey Boss?" He asked, just before they got to the door, "Can I ask you something?" Gibbs nodded, cocking his head slightly, wondering what Tony was thinking. However, the question caught him off guard and left him speechless for a moment,

"Do you think I'm a good son?" His big green eyes were imploring his Boss to tell him what he wanted to hear, not what he thought was the truth. However, Gibbs had no intention of lying to his agent.

"Look at me Tony," He said softly, putting a finger under his chin and lifting Tony's head up to face his own, "I can tell you want me to say so much that you've never heard before, how incredible you are, how loyal, how kind... And you should know by now I don't need to lie about any of that. Anyone should be proud to call you there son. I'm always proud of you. I know we can't act like this at work, and sometimes even out of work it wouldn't always be appropriate, but my door is always open kiddo. You can come round here any time you want if you feel like talking, or having someone knock some sense into you," Tony smiled weakly,

"I would be... Hell I _am_, proud to call you my son." Tony nodded, blinking back tears as he tried to smile at the man he'c come to love as a father. He didn't even need to ask before arms enveloped him, pulling him into a loving hug, as he was patted on the back gently.

--

As they walked into the building, Tony was aware of a sort of fasting around him. Several women came up and asked him how he was, they hadn't seen him lately. He grinned and said soothingly that he'd been out of town for a few days, family emergency. They all cooed and assumed one of his family members had died. He didn't put them straight, and Gibbs was amused to see how much he revelled in the attention. Burying the thought, _That should be me giving him attention, _Gibbs took his arm and pulled, knowing that Tony would now be giving the women a cheeky grin and a 'You know what he's like' face.

They got into the elevator without too much hastle, and Tony breathed out slowly as soon as the doors were closed, making Gibbs pause. Was it all too much too soon? However, the younger man slid down the side of the lift and closed his eyes lazily,

"I'm home now." He whispered, too quietly for Gibbs to hear, who was still just looking at him cautiously, gauging to see what else he did, and whether or not they should just go home. Tony opened his eyes to see the look he was getting and grinned dizzily,

"I'm fine Boss," He said adamantly as the elevator doors opened, "I'm fine." Gibbs nodded at him, still glancing over critically every so often. Tony stepped out and breathed deeply for a moment before walking casually down to the bullpen, getting many 'Tony, you're back"'s and 'Hey DiNozzo, you still owe me money!'s along the way. He stayed grinning as he sat down at his desk for what felt like the first time in months. Right now he'd even be happy to be doing paperwork.

"Hey Tony," He looked up to see Kate walking down from the other direction, obviously just come from seeing Abby, "How're you? And how's your arm?" He beamed in reply,

"Fine, really great. We got anything today?" He had felt both her and the Probie's gaze upon him, and wanted for once nothing better than to get down and do some work. She gave him an odd smile and replied,

"Not yet, but you know Gibbs, he'll find something for us to do." Tony nodded, glancing up at the railing outside MTAC where Gibbs was talking to Morrow, no doubt telling him how well Melissa had done. Tony looked back to see McGee standing up and saying,

"I need coffee, can I get anyone else anything?" Both Kate and Tony answered in the affirmative and he strolled off, presumably towards the cafeteria, as they couldn't go very far in case they got a call about something.

"Hey Tony, you been sleeping alright?" Kate asked, glancing over at him. He raised an eyebrow and answered,

"Er, yeah, I'm fine... Why? Do I have bags or something?" She shook her head, before saying,

"I just think you might get a tongue lashing from Gibbs if you need a nap when we have work." Tony grinned at her, baring his teeth,

"Aw that's sweet Katie, real sweet." She smiled and gave off the image the butter wouldn't melt, before saying,

"Just in case you do get a little sleepy, here's your blankie." He snarled at her as she threw the pale blue blanket Abby had obviously snatched from Gibbs' house over. He grabbed it and threw it under his desk, although he left it in his hands half a second longer to feel the soft material, memories flashing back of all of last week. He glanced over to her as she was still grinning, before saying,

"You know, I bet I could still get Gibbs to yell at you if it looks like you've upset me." She glanced up, a competitive look on her face,

"Let's make it interesting," She said, laying down some money on the desk, "I'll give you 20 bucks if you can make Gibbs yell at McGee before today is up."

"Deal." He said chirpily, and, as if on cue, McGee walked back up from the cafeteria, drinks in hand,

"Kate here's yours, I got one of Gibbs as well, and Tony, they were fresh out of hazelnut, so I had to get you something else." Tony glanced down as a sippy-cup full of juice was placed in front of him. He growled, a sound that McGee picked up on and hastily retreated to his desk, not having the guts Kate did to stand his anger. Kate was laughing however, which made McGee chuckle nervously.

However, it was warm in the bullpen. Not 'Broken heater' warm, but definitely warm. Tony glanced over to Kate, who looked back and said sweetly,

"What's wrong Tony? Need a drink? Sorry, mine's all out." To prove this, she tipped her empty coffee cup into the bin by her desk. Gritting his teeth, he looked over to McGee, only to have the same thing done. Finally, he looked over at Gibbs' desk. However much he hated his Boss' taste in coffee, he was still talking to the Director, and surely wouldn't notice if he...

"Hey, DiNozzo, don't you even think about it!" The shout came from above them, and Tony cursed angrily, forgetting Gibbs could easily see them from where he was.

Ok, it was _way _too warm in the office. Tony glanced down at the cup still stood by his computer. He was getting desperate, and the orange coloured juice was becoming very alluring, even after the cup he had at breakfast. He glanced around quickly, seeing both Kate and McGee immersed in their own things. He quickly tried to pull the top of the cup, that way it would be less embarrassing to drink it, but it clung on tight, and wouldn't come off. _Damn childproof cups, _He thought angrily as he only succeeded in making his hands ache.

"What's wrong Tony?" Kate asked from where she was, "Need help with your bottle?" Tony gave her a sarcastic grin and swiveled his chair around, so he had his back to her. Maybe if he tried to pull it off with his teeth...

"Tony, what are you doing?" Tony looked up to see Gibbs stood right next to him. A guilty smile spread across his face,

"See, I... er...I was thirsty and Probie thought it would be funny to... It's Kate's fault Boss."

"Don't you dare DiNozzo!" Kate yelled angrily, "It's your own fault for..."

"For what, Agent Todd?" Gibbs asked, taking the cup from where Tony had been trying to take the top off with his mouth and unscrewing it in one easy move. Kate blush and murmured,

"Nothing Gibbs, nothing." Tony grinned at her victoriously as soon as Gibbs' back was turned and downed the drink quickly, which instantly quenched his thirst. Kate rolled her eyes but said nothing.

There would be plenty more opportunities throughout the day.

--

"Grab your gear." Gibbs said, putting his phone down,

"What've we got Boss?" Tony asked eagerly, as they'd been stuck behind the desks all morning,

"Dead marine found in his house by his wife. Kate, call Ducky, DiNozzo..."

"Gassing the truck Boss!" He answered happily, and bounced away,

"Careful Tony," Kate said as he walked past, "We haven't put your car seat in the front of the truck yet." He scowled angrily. When would they let this go? Fair enough, he would _never _let one of them forget about this if it had happened to them, but that was _him_, Kate was supposedly _kinder _than he was.

--

The truck rumbled steadily through the streets. Gibbs was driving, and Tony had been shunned to the back of the truck, both McGee and Kate calling Shotgun. He hadn't said anything, just went to the back of it, thinking Kate would just have a better chance to hit him with jibes from where he would have been sat. So he was now sat stiffly in the back, hanging onto the window that separated the two parts of the truck and staring at the road forlornly, bored stiff.

To get to the Marine's house, they needed to pass through several miles of countryside, which involved lots of animals - which involved lots of animal _waste_. Kate pulled a face at the smell, but smirked at McGee, before calling back,

"Hey Tony, think you can wait for your diaper change?" Tony grit his teeth again, thinking that if they didn't let up, he'd have to shoot them. Starting with McGee,

"Aww that's funny Kate," He said, "You know what else is funny? The fact that you got a call today from a salon in town asking if they could reschedule your bikini wax..."

"They were full and... Oh my God I can't believe this. You've only been back half a day and yet you know who I'm getting calls off _and _what they're about." Tony grinned in victory, before McGee said,

"Is it just me, or is the smell following us?"

--

"McGee bag and tag, Tony shoot and sketch, Kate photos." They all three nodded, Kate walking near Tony and pointing to a pond, saying in an excited voice,

"Look Tony, duckies! Yes, quack quack! You like duckies don't you honey?" She gave him a malevolent grin and went closer to him, hissing,

"Next time you get me in trouble with Gibbs using your 'Baby' excuse, you _will _be crying for a week and you _will _require diapers for the foreseeable future."

Tony grabbed the camera from the van and went inside the house, finding the dining room, where a marine was lying face down at the table, his face in his plate of food. As he went over, Tony tripped, almost falling over before grabbing holf of a chair to steady himself. Gibbs got a momentary flashback of a small toddler trying to find his feet, before seeing Kate gently pluck the camera out of Tony's hands,

"Careful sweetie, it's not a toy." She said patronizingly, before switching to her normal voice and saying, "Gibbs told you to shoot and sketch Tony." He blushed, remembering the Boss had indeed said that. Glancing over, Gibbs nodded slightly, so Tony just stuck his tongue out at Kate, and turned to go back to the van.

"Although I don't think we packed the crayons! Sorry Tony, looks like you'll have to use big boy pencils now." He shook his head fiercely, gripping his fists in tight balls,

_Never hit a girl, Never hit a girl..._

--

It was now 2100 hours and they were finally done for the night. Ducky had found that the marine had been poisoned, and Abby had found finger prints still on the half-ingested pills (They had gotten them out quickly). It was suicide, and the wife had verified this, saying through tears he'd found out that she'd been having an affair, and they were bankrupt and owed masses of loans.

Gibbs had mentally congratulated his team on how quickly they'd solved this, but to Tony, who's body was still quite achy, it had seemed like a life time. Kate gave him a smile as she went towards the elevator,

"Guess you don't get any money Tony, " She said happily, "Gibbs hasn't yelled at McGee yet today... Well - that's been _your_ fault." Tony raised an eyebrow and pointed over to McGee's desk, where Gibbs was presently tearing him a new one. Kate looked over, her jaw dropping,

"Wow, he hasn't been that angry in a long time. What did you do?" Tony shrugged modestly and glanced at his fingernails,

"Nothing special, might've taunted the Probie so bad that he yelled out, _quite _loudly that I should 'Go suck on my dummy while the adults worked'. Gibbs picked up on it, I make my eyes go all watery and upset, and Bam." Kate shook her head, her own eyes brimming with amusement as she handed over the money,

"Don't spend it all on Beanie Babies Tony," She said, stepping into the elevator, "And if you're good, Gibbs might even let you use it to buy some sweeties!" He gave her an over-cheery yet sarcastic thumbs up as the elevator doors closed.

"Tony!" He looked up to see Gibbs waiting as McGee slunk away,

"Yeah Boss?"

"You're coming home with me tonight. I still don't think you're 100 percent." Tony rolled his eyes at this lame excuse, but waited patiently for Gibbs to reach the elevator. However, just as the doors started to close on them, Tony hastily pressed the 'Open' button and ran out, saying,

"Wait, I just gotta grab one more thing." Gibbs raised and eyebrow, but soon Tony was back in the elevator, trusting Gibbs not to mention anything about the fact that he was now holding a pale blue blanket, softly screwing up the corners of it before putting it over his shoulder, Linus-style **(A/N, Linus out of Snoopy (Peanuts) in case you're wondering ;))**, but without the thumb in mouth.

--

"Well, I guess I'm going to hit the sack," Tony declared, standing up and stretching. They'd just watched a Bond film, Gibbs not really believing he'd been roped into it. It was now nearly midnight, and Tony was struggling to keep his eyes open, even to watch his usually favourite Bond (Sean Connery). Gibbs nodded, but stood up as well, and put a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder,

"Don't take any notice of McGee or Kate Tony," He said, "They're just winding you up." Tony gave him a odd smile,

"I know. I'm fine." Gibbs studied him and raised an eyebrow,

"Like hell you are Tony. I don't really know what they're making you feel, but I'm going to have a pretty good guess. Ready?" Tony nodded, unsure of where his Boss was going with this, "Firstly you feel embarrassed, obviously, who isn't? But then, you've got them bringing back all these memories that I'm guessing; are pretty painful, right?" Tony nodded slowly, unaware of several tears falling down his face. Gibbs moved the hand that was on his shoulder to his face,

"If I'm honest Tony, they're painful for me as well. It was... I was the happiest I've ever been in a long time when I was looking after you, and well..." Tony gulped slightly, and nodded, hastily rubbing at his eyes as Gibbs smiled and brushed a tear away,

"We've been over this so many times Tony but, I wish you were my actual son, I really do. You know I...I do love you right?" Tony laughed shakily and nodded,

"I know... Thanks... Dad," He grinned cheekily, "I love you too." Gibbs smiled and pulled him into a hug, only pulling away when his shirt was getting quite drenched.

"Go on now," He finally said, "Bed." Tony smiled at him and nodded, dragging the blanket behind him, letting it trail on the floor. Gibbs gave a small smile.

Oh yes, he really did love having a child in the house.

**It's over? Woah... it's finished :O Wow. Well, that was a long chapter lol. As before, I love you all, you all give me inspiration with all your fantastic reviews, so if you'd be so kind as to review just once more? Thankyou ^^ Look out for any of my future work ;) I've got a tiny list of things I'm gonna do in the future on my profile, so... yeah, stay tuned. So, for the last time ever... Review? xxxxxxx**


End file.
